Observations about Australia (Part I)

Ok, I said this blog would be partly about me discovering what life in Australia is like. Here's an observation for you.

Sign Here, Please
You know how in the US nobody ever checks your signature when you use a credit card? Read about the hilarious Credit Card Prank to see how cavalier US retailers are about this. I have occasionally signed my name as "Thor," especially when having to sign one of those stupid electronic pads where I can't accurately recreate my crabbed signature (which even on a good day resembles that of a slow-witted right-handed fourth-grader having to use his left hand because he broke his right hand punching a wall after being sent to his room for pulling his sister's hair) anyway.

But don't try this trick in Oz! I've used my credit card maybe six times here, at grocery stores, restaurants, crack houses, electronics stores, and illegal gun shops (I'm telling the truth about three of those five). Each and every time I've pulled out the old MasterCard and signed the slip, the salesperson/waiter/drugpusher has very carefully compared the signature on the receipt with the one on the back of my credit card. Good thing I didn't try my "Thor" trick before learning this basic fact. I wonder how they would humiliate me if they determined my signature was not close enough to the one on the back of that piece of plastic? Hope I never find out.

So, if you ever come to Australia, make sure your credit cards are signed, and be very very careful when signing the authorizations.