Two days ago, I was happily waiting for my turn to pay off a great buy at a department store when I suddenly felt a sense of panic I have never felt before. I couldn’t find my ATM Card in my bag or in my wallet. Suddenly, a montage of images flashed and with it, the utter realization that earlier, I withdrew half the amount of my salary for the last 15 days of the month – and failed to retrieve my Card from the machine.My first instinct was to go to where the AT Machine was but common sense prevailed. I had left the area for more than 30 minutes already and considering that there was a guy who was standing in line next to me when I left, I am sure he must have found the card and taken it already. Nevertheless, I went there – merely to confirm the glaring fact that my ATM Card is lost for good.
I felt deflated. I just didn’t know what came over me – why I forgot to retrieve the card. For one, the guy behind me acted restless and so I was probably in a rush to let him take over. After all, I had finished my transaction – and as per the usual procedure with most ATMachines, my card should have been automatically ejected by the machine already – even before I got the cash and receipt out. That was what I was thinking actually: that I already had the card in my possession. Still, it was a lame excuse on my part to blame how the machine works. My negligence was the proximate cause of the whole incident and I must pay for the consequences.
