$114,000.00 ATM Receipt

I was chatting with my friend Rich on Friday Night and he reminded me of a classic joke I played on someone back in 2000 at my previous job.

I had just been promoted to the Purchasing Department at the computer firm I used to work at. It was the summer of 2000. Business was great and we had so many employees in Purchasing, there weren’t enough desks for everyone now that I was promoted into the department. So, the company bought me a new desk at Staples and set it up about 10 feet behind this girl named Tina. Tina was a “phony” type of person. She was friends with the owner of the company and had been employed there for about 8 years at that point. She was materialistic and was not always the nicest person in the world. Tina and I sat so close to each other because of the space limitations in the department that we very quickly started getting on each other’s nerves because we were almost sitting on top of each other. She was always rude to me and really mean at times. Tina, for the most part, liked to date guys with lots of money. Tina was also nosey and would listen to everything I’d say on the phone, casually look at what was on my desk, look at the e-mails I was typing, etc.

One day I was at Roosevelt Field Mall for lunch with my coworkers. I went to the ATM to take out some money to buy my lunch. While I was waiting for my cash to dispense, I noticed a pile of ATM receipts that were left behind by other people who got cash that day. One in particular caught my eye. It was an ATM withdrawal for $100 and the person’s balance in their CHECKING account was $114,000.00!!! A million light bulbs went off in my head. I took this $114,000.00 receipt and placed it in my wallet. The idea I had was to put this receipt on my desk so that Tina would think I had $114,000.00 in the bank. To make it seem more “real” I staged for a few of my coworkers to periodically come by my desk where she could hear us talk and ask to borrow large sums of money from me.

When I got back from lunch I strategically placed the receipt on my desk and left the area. I watched, with my friends at work, from a distance to see if she would snoop. Sure enough she saw it and her eyes almost shot out of her head. I went back to my desk and put the receipt away and went about my work. Tina turned to me and asked how my day was going, how my lunch was, and that she was heading to the break room and asked if I needed any water or anything. Suddenly she was so nice to me. Later that day, Rich (in on the joke) stopped at my desk and asked if he could borrow $1,000 because he was short on his bills. I told him no problem, we’d go to the ATM after work and I’d take it out for him. About an hour later another friend at work came by and said “Charlie, I did not forget about that $500 I owe you, I just don’t have it right now.” I was like, “No Problem! I don’t need it right now, take your time paying me back.” Then my sister (who worked there also) came by and asked to borrow a few hundred to buy her husband a nice watch. Tina was taking this all in and commented later in the day how generous and nice I am with my friends and family. She then admitted she saw the ATM receipt and was like, “How did you save that much money at 28 years old??” I said I saved all my money growing up and made good investments. She was like “That is so admirable, you really are smart with your money.” Tina was like my best pal for about a month until someone finally told her it was a big joke. Needless to say, Tina and I went back to getting on each other’s nerves.