A Guy Named Brook

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Carmel, Indiana License Branch

I visited the license branch today which you can read more about in my other blog (http://youdeserverecognition.blogspot.com/2007/05/carmel-indiana-license-branch.html). I had another experience of how a normal security situations seemed to fly by them even though they are assuming I am not the person I am acting as.

The first thing when I sat down the lady asked me for my driver's license. Expected. That always happens at the license branch and has nothing to do with my name raising any suspicions with anyone. She proceeded so I figured she must have verified by my license that my ID and the name on the registrations matched.

As she worked she kept making comments like "She will now have a new plate." "She will have the right county on her plate." She used the pronoun she to refer to me in the third person several times. I decided to throw her for a loop and she what happened. I related to her how we had considered putting my wife, Penny, on the plates, but thought it would be easier to just have me on there. I waited for her wheels to start turning in her mind. It was just a moment when I could see on her face that she was beginning to question what was going on here. Now that the veil of the name Brook had been pierced she started thinking about the things that she was prevented from thinking about, by the name Brook being presented to her by a man, when she first took my license. I waited for it and in a moment she said, "Who's Brook?" I smiled and replied, "That'd be me."

I'm not sure what she looked at when she took my license or what she heard when I said, "We thought it would just be easier to have MY name on the plates." I also don't know why it was permissible for me to renew plate in someone else's name when in the past neither of us has been able to do anything with our plates if ther other person's name was on there.

I don't want to be hard on this sweet lady. She was very cordial and got me in and out very quickly. I just want to illustrate how the name Brook being presented by a guy seems to hypnotize people.

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Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Even Computers Don't Help Them

A couple of years ago, maybe more, I was surprised to see a desktop computer station set up in a doctor's exam room. I thought this was fantastic. Things get entered right there and the rest of the staff can begin doing their part right away. The nurse took all of my information and blood pressure and all that and put it in the computer. I thought the doctor would add his notes there, but no he walked in with a tablet PC. Even better. Then things broke down.

The doctor comes in with his tablet and looks a little confused. He walks back out and then back in. I then wait for it. "The chart says we have Brook in this room..ur...um..."

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Monday, May 14, 2007

Carded at Lowe's

I was at Lowe's a while back with a friend of mine. His wife's name is Dale and he told me she has several interesting stories of her own, but that is fodder for another blog. I get carded or looked at funny all the time as I use my credit card. If my wife is with me they hand her the receipt to sign even though I swiped the card. However, this time was exceptionally humorous, frustrating, and confusing all rolled in one.

We walked up to the cashier and I gave her my credit card. She looked at it weird and asked me for my driver's license. I was expecting that, so I had it ready. She looked at my driver's license and then a look of relief came over her. She then looked at me and sighed, "I just knew you weren't Brook." I replied back that I was indeed Brook. The question I didn't ask was, "What were you looking for on my license? Was the fact that my face matched my license picture enough to make it permitted to use someone else's credit card?"

You bother a customer to produce an extra thing from their wallet for apparently no reason. When you suspect there is a problem with someone using a credit card, you have no idea what to check to determine the legitimacy of the transaction.

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