Letter Of The Day

News flash: That old adage about how crime doesn't pay? Guess what? That's no longer true. In America in 2005, crime does pay.

I learned recently that someone had used my card to buy an Ipod Mini. I called the store where the item was purchased and in five minutes had the name and address of the person who used my card (he had the item shipped to his home).

But too bad for me: The person who committed the fraud lives in Santa Ana, Calif., and I live in Ames. Can you tell where this is going? The Santa Ana police aren't interested because I don't live there, and the Ames police aren't interested because the crime was committed in Santa Ana. Nor does the FBI care.

Silly me! I thought using someone else's credit card was a crime.

So if you want free Ipods, flat-screen TVs, computers or whatever, find someone's credit card and have at it. No one will try to stop you. And when you've shopped till you've dropped, take your shoes off, relax and ponder the joys of life in 21st-century America — the land where crime pays.

-M. M. Ogle, Ames.

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