A Funny Thing Happened at the Manhattan DA

I love my job. It's interesting. it's challenging. The people are great. And, in some small way, I feel like I'm doing my part to help victims of major economic crimes. Never did it cross my mind that I would fall victim to an economic crime (albeit minor in the grand scheme of things). On my way to work a few weeks ago I followed my usual routine: Get up, hop on the train, buy a coffee, hopefully make it to work on time. All went fine. Later that day, at lunch with a friend and fellow P55er, the waiter returned to our table after we'd both offered our credit cards and said to me, "Um, miss, your card is expired." Impossible. I had just had a new debit card sent to me. I asked him to show me the card. Sure enough, expired. Over a year ago. How could this be? He was showing me an expired debit card that I thought I had thrown out ages ago. Moreover, why was the expired card occupying the wallet slot that my new, fully functioning debit card usually lives in? I looked down at my wallet and realized that not only had an expired debit card been placed in my "normal debit card spot," but also my credit card was missing (i.e. the parents' emergencies only card). Not good. Looking up at my puzzled lunch partner, I said, "Jennie, I've been robbed." Given that I had paid for a coffee with my real, non-expired debit card that morning, supersleuth Jennie and I concluded that I had to have been robbed at the office, which is to say at the Major Economic Crimes Bureau of the District Attorney's office. I could appreciate the irony, even as someone was out there joyriding with my card at Bergdorf Goodman and Barneys. After reporting the incident to my bureau chief, it took less than an hour for my cubicle to become a veritable crime scene. There was talk of fingerprinting! Sure enough by the week's end, investigators had found the thief, and luckily I wasn't on the hook for the fraudulent charges. So if there's a takeaway from this story, I guess the right one might be don't leave your bright turquoise wallet in your open bag at your unattended desk. But I think the whole episode gave me yet another reason to love my job. Yes, it's fun, interesting, challenging. But it's also nice to know you have a team of trained investigators behind you when you need them.