I was either attending uni in Germany or working in Germany. I ended up buying something to eat in a mini store inside a campus. The cafeteria (galleria) only took cash so I went to get something from the dry goods store. I queue behind people of all nationalities; Tamil stood out for me. The queue for the till snakes all the way to the back of the store and breaks off into three streams before merging to one again. As a civil rule observing member of society, I join the queue at the end.
By the time I get to the till, the middle till is broken. The till on my right is running behind and people crowd it. My till is empty so I thought I was lucky. I get my card wallet out. I take out an AMEX but notice a five euro note slips out on to the table. I'm asked whether I'm using cash or credit. He takes my AMEX and says it's not accepted so I fumble with one hand to grab the five euro note, except I have a change of heart and try to look for my Visa or Mastercard. I noticed when he returned my AMEX on the table it's cut in the corner. Another AMEX card, this time the credit not charge card, comes out. He takes that off me and says it's not accepted and cuts it in half.
Now I'm livid. My heart rate races, I can feel some constriction in my chest and in my dream, I'm asking why my cards are being destroyed. He replied AMEX is declining my cards so they must be destroyed. I'm yelling at him that whether my card is valid and whether I want to destroy the card is my responsibility and not his. I'm now putting down what I'm trying to purchase and on the spot trying to ring AMEX based on the telephone number on the shards of the cards. He asks me to step aside and I retort, "No, this transaction hasn't completed yet."
Just as I wake up, he seems to be closing the till and moving to another one to avoid me.
