Crypticalley ...of Twisted Neural Pathways

As a young kid, I recall how meticulously my grandmother would check her grocery bills. She's quite fond of cooking, or getting things cooked, and would phone the store owner with a long list of items she wanted to buy. In due course of time one of his workers would ride up to our house on his bicycle with the goods and present her with the bill. It was frequently an illegible scrawl, and she would often ask for my help in deciphering it lest the total was a few rupees off.

That of course, was many years ago in India; my recent experiences have more to do with computerized, credit card loving USA. But the basic principle remains the same. After all, humans feed numbers into the system and can make mistakes while doing so. And even if they get it right, computer programs aren't infallible either.

Consider my surprise today while checking my  American Express statement when I found that I had been charged twice for their rewards program in the amount of $75 each. After calling customer support, both charges have been revoked pending an investigation into the matter. The charges would surely have gone unnoticed and out of my pocket it I had not caught them. I'm wondering if I should now start itemizing and totaling my grocery bills as well...