Credit Cards

At work I have a mailbox, a name tag, a uniform. Somehow none of that has made feel as official as my own company credit card.

Before there was a system of borrowing the director's card. It lived in a battered envelop at the front desk with an ongoing list of who is checking it out, what date it is taken, and what date it is returned. This was shared by up to six people all needing it for all their outing and supply shopping endeavors. For the most part it was very courteous. We tried to not keep it overnight for more than one night, tried to get it back in time for another's outing, and tried to combine shopping trips when possible. However accidents happen and not only does it not get signed out (either by the receptionist or activities person taking it), it gets left in wallets, buses, stores, handicap bathrooms- always when someone else seems needs it most.

There is also the executive director's card to be begged for, and lastly personal cards with their bonus of reward points but negative of reimbursement wait.

The retirement community I work for allows residents to go out and put any purchases on the company credit card. The bill gets tacked on to their monthly statement. This means as an activities person I must comb through the receipts at the end of the day, remember who got what, calculate tax, liquor tax, and tip if necessary, and then assign codes to each charge.

Having my own card will hopefully cut down on day-of time of looking for an available card when I also am looking for bus keys and reminding residents of our impending trip. It will increase my time spent on receipts since I will be responsible for my own credit card statement.

Last night after we had our dinner outing I realized it would all be worth it. When the waiter handed my the bill he said, "Have a great evening Ms. Flashley". Before they had always used the activities director's name and I had a moment of panic if they would ask me to prove my validity to use someone else's card.