have the times changed?

so stella and i are having the carpets steam cleaned on friday. fret not, though, because the company is eco-friendly and all aces (we checked 'em out). since i'll be down visitin' definer, we talked about how we'll pay the eco-people in my absence. we laughed - i could leave my credit card with a note 'please let stella use this card to pay. sincerely, inga.' but would that work?

i mean, when i was a teenager, ena would sometimes let me use her credit card and she'd totally give me a note to show the salesperson. and sometimes i'd use my father's gas card - but always with a note handy, just in case. the only weird thing that ever came up was once, at a gas station in insert large southern city here, the man behind the counter handed me the receipt to sign. i signed with the only pen i had in my purse - it was purple or pink - signed and handed it back. the man looked at the receipt, shook his head and tore it up.

great, i thought. now how am i going to say the (probably) $5 dollars in gas i just put in my car? i was sixteen. i never had cash on me (ah, youth!).

but the dude was printing off another receipt. he slammed it down in front of me and stuck a pen in my face. 'must sign in black,' he shouted. 'colors do not count!'

i mean, was that ever true?