A rabbit away somewhere .....

I collect a few little things amounting to about four quid in Ikea food section to save me baking a cake to take visiting this afternoon . D is in the queue for the larger items .... we were looking for something to store the cookery books in in the kitchen , preferably under the bench and between the cat litter box and next to the raised greyhound feeding platform ( deep chested dogs have special feeding needs ) . Instead , we found a soft wool throw , to save us fighting with the dog for the blanket on cold winter nights in front of the tv , some vanilla scented candles Ive been sniffing around for for ever having noted a divine smell in one of my CatCalls houses ( lots of perfumed smells give me migraine ) , some dog poo bags ( very cheap , you really can't fault Ikea on these things ), a picture frame for a print of Lindisfarne castle I bought D for his birthday way back in Sept .
I digress . I usually do . There I am , collecting my stuff in the food section , arriving at the chcekout , no queue , handing over my card for my cakes , my bag of fruit gums for my sister , and I hear the boy say " You can take your card now " . I take the card from the machine . As Im taking it , I notice the message on the machine saying Please Wait , and at the same time he says No ! Sorry I say , I thought you said Take it Out . I did , he says . I did say that , I thought it was finished but its not . Its been ages . Maybe its ok . Lets hang on and see. I finish sliding the card out and wait , card in hand , feeling silly for some reason , like I've grabbed the sweets before I was allowed to .
Oops sorry he says . It says Card declined .
Oh its always doing that , I say . It will have to go through again I suppose .
He looks at me doubtfully and starts again . With hindsight I guess he would rather I had juts gone away or given him some cash . Never occurred to me .
The process restarts .
Pin number entered.
Pin correct .
Ive got the Pin right I say , a little triumphantly , and he nods , noncommital . He knows what he knows .
Card Declined .
Its declined again he says .
Does it again .
A queue is building up .
D has arrived and is standing to the side , watching .
I examine the card , starting to look for another in case this one refuses completely to honour me . I realise though its the right card , the expiry date is 07 10 . Oh look . I say to the boy . This card ran out last October , or so it says . But I used it yesterday . And the day before .
He looks very fed up by now . I cant see them , in fact I have no awareness of them but D tells me later that the queue is unsettled and beginning to wriggle . There are tuts and turnings of the head .
He takes the alternative card I offer . I am loath now to give him the cash , as I fear he thinks my cards are frauds . This I wont tolerate . he puts through my next card and it works like a dream . But I confess I am rattled . How come the Visa card sitting in my wallet expired in October and I have been using it several times a week since then ( more times than I care to count ) , and yes it rejects perhaps twice or thrice in that time ? And no one notices it has expired . There is a rabbit away somewhere , I think to myself , and return to the car , and there is the answer staring me in the face . Rabbits ! The Vets ! I took the card in my fleece pocket to pay for some coat conditioner we ordered at the vets whilst out on a walk with the dog , not wishing to carry a handbag . And never replaced the card in my wallet . Why do I carry an old card in my wallet ? Good question !

Arrive home dying to check fleece pockets . Neighbour asks who N's new friends are as one of them has shouted out of our sitting room window at her . It was not something polite which was shouted . I apologise and enter the sitting room to a teenage fug, where a film is being watched on dvd , and ask for an explanation . The finger is immediately pointed at one of the boys , who I say must immediately apologise . To his credit , off he goes . On his return I ask what he says and he states that he said sorry for using profanities and causing offence , which apology was duly accepted . The other teens ask what profanities are and I think of the three years I spent studying Durkheim and the Sacred and the Profane twenty odd years ago . Happy days .