Topic: Obama’s credit card denied at restaurant (Read 3798 times)

ha... hahaha... hahahahahahah.  lol... good one brah.

That's pretty funny, did he pull out his phone and pay in bitcoin instead?
He should be using the nsa computers to mine some for himself, just incase the credit card fails again.

As I can understand this argument from your standpoint, it's kind of a very odd statement to make.

Why?

Fact: All persons on this planet are human beings. That means they're all the same in the regard that they have needs (eating/sleeping/social needs etc.)

Fact: Most automated systems have certain rules programmed. These rules are attached to for example bank accounts.

Example: If you call your brother in Romania, and he makes a charge on your card, it is blocked according to policy, because of suspicious spending pattern, no matter who you are.

Another example: If you do not use a card over the next 12 months, it's blocked. This happens no matter who you are.

There are of course financial services that has more of a personal approach to accounts for rich people, and where everything is handled manually by a clerk.

So the next time you see a president, a film star, a football player or anyone else rich,  famous and powerful experiencing the same problem as an ordinary person, this is no indication that there's fairness in the world.

All of these are just normal people like you and me, they only are more resourceful. If you got a few million dollars, and your own TV program tomorrow, you would still be the same person physically, but people would view and treat you differently.

There's a sickness in our society where people that have resources are treated better because of who they are.

In fact, every day you can see there's a lot of examples that the world is a nasty unfair place. For example, highly religious people go to a war zone and gets raped and killed, but all they wanted to do was to help other people. A young boy gets killed by a truck. A promising young girl gets killed in a school shooting. You get hit by a random bullet going to a carneval.

There's no fairness in this world. The world is full of randomness and even if you always try to do what's right, this is no guarantee you will succeed. True, hard work can often bring you very far, and you're responsible for your own life, but frankly the famous person that does something good for others, like the famous fotball player that plays with the kids in his local town, or visiting a cancer ridden child at a hospital, that's not any more impressive than if you did it. It's not like when you reach a certain status in this world, which by the way is not worth more than the perception in the eyes of others, and in my eyes, if you're a president or a janitor, I would not care either way, I would treat you the same, and I would see  the human you are, and not the title attached to your name.

Seeing a famous person experiencing the same issues as a normal person and then concluding that there's fairness in this world, is basically flawed thinking.

This might come forward as harsh, that's not my intention. But please don't hold any famous person up as a God or a Semi-God, they're just humans with their positive and negative sides, as everyone else, which for whatever reason has achieved their current status among other humans.

Personally I am never envious of famous people, as I can imagine it can be quite difficult to be famous as you're constantly recognized, and even though they have more opportunities in life than most people, I don't think that automatically brings you happiness. Just look at the amount of famous and rich people that have struggled with narcotics, alcohol and other issues, even though they had plenty of money and people to help them.

The fact that some people look up to the rich and famous,and want to be like them, it's nothing but a mirage. It looks great from a distance, but once you get there, you realize that not everything is perfect, there's still problems in life, and being famous can bring with it its own sleeve of issues and problems.

Sometimes Obama will have a fight with Michelle, they will argue over issues concerning their children, and they will be angry at each other. Sometimes they will eat some food that was not top quality, and as a result they will have stomach pain, and sit on the toilett with a running stomach. Sometimes there's other physical pains, and yet other times, there's something or someone annoying them greatly. And sometimes they just simply don't get their way.

That's life for everyone. While money might make lots of things simpler, and while you can buy a great house, a great car and live a lifestyle that makes others envious, it does not mean that you're a happy person, or not even a good person. Many persons who have a constant need for attention often live in complete turmoil, they do not have peace within.

So please, don't envy the famous and rich, and don't feel relieved once a beautiful movie star has a bad hairday, or shows her face without makeup. If you look at the path many of these people has taken through life, while some was destined from success from birth, that's not true of everyone, and many of those who today are famous and rich, have had a very though struggle to get where they're at - and many others have tried and didn't succeed. Sometimes it's random whether an individual becomes a success, or a failure. But imo, the only failure is to never have tried, if you have ambitions.

It would have been great if OBAMA had accepted Bitcoin and hang a signboard outside the white house that says "bitcoin is accepted here... "

Well he is still a human being. That is cool to know that even the president of the US gets his card denied. That means there is fairness in this world

I read the article in full.

Maybe I should've phrased myself differently.

My main point being that if you're the president, then every door is open for you. And any misunderstanding will always be handled and fixed promptly.

However, on the other hands, if you're not the president, but a random black man - you might not have such an easy time.

Here's some further reading: http://www.occupy.com/article/black-man-killed-us-every-28-hours-police

And here's a story about an italian lawyer arrested in New York, for forgetting his wallet when eating out at an upscale restaurant:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2013/01/italian-tourist-arrested-at-steakhouse-after-forgetting-wallet/

From my own experiences with some staff of US companies, I've learned that some people, no matter what you say, will be hostile against you, perhaps they just don't like the way your look, based on race, gender, physical apperance, clothing, or their mood that particular day. And when you become frustrated and angry and raise your voice because of the situation, that's regarded as 'threatening' and then it's justifed to call the police. Never in my life did I ever have trouble with the police and never was I a threat to anyone, but yet still some people on ocassions have considered me as a threat.

The whole point is that some people are lower on the social ladder, and these are more easily picked on.

As for shutting off anyone's credit card, the reason is most likely automated systems, and it's nothing personal, and there's usually no difference if you're a janitor or a president, but where the preseident has countless exits when his card does not work, the single janitor with worn clothes might not have too many exits, and might as well be thrown into jail.

If you read the article you would realize how silly that statement is and why the card was canceled...

Denied credit card at the restaurant ? I think its not an big problem for president ahah ! Yes one advantage more for choose to use bitcoin !

Man, it was such a short short article and you didn't even read it??? 

On the FIRST LINE OF THE ARTICLE it states- 
President Barack Obama gets his change after paying for his lunch as he and Vice President Joe Biden make an unannounced visit to Ray’s Hell Burger in Arlington, Va., May 5, 2009. White House photo

So to sum up, yes he was president at the time and thanks for not even trying to read the article:)

This is only true if they scam you via the internet (which is most common as of now). If you are scammed in person then you have a lot more to go on

No. If you read the entire article you would know that his wife used her credit card to pay for the meal. I am also fairly certain that this incident did not happen while Obama was president (although I am not 100% sure on this - the article does not give a timeline)

I wonder what would happen if:

- Obama was not the president, but a random unknown regular black guy that just had a solid dinner at an upscale restaurant and had his cc rejected after finishing it all? Would the cops've been called on him?

But when you are scammed and a person got your bitcoin, it is not easy to find the person again. If youre bitcoin are stolen, then you cannot find out who stole your coins.

I'm agree with your thinking (of course). I just wanted to repeat it (maybe barack right now  he is reading this thread  ).

I am aware of that, hence why I stated it in my original post?  You pretty much just repeated what I said?   Were you just agreeing with me in a weird way?

Bitcoin cannot be freezed , a credit Card : yes . This is the substantial difference between the current system/economy and the new  peer-to-peer electronic cash system <

This is such a non story it isn't even funny.  This simply happened because he hadn't used his card forever and they deactivated it(Which is good because its easy to reactivate)

This can't happen in Bitcoin, but if you don't use a wallet for a long time and it gets hacked and your coins get lost....then its even worse then what happened here.

That was a very good ending nevertheless cryptocurrency solves this problem easily,

That's a good point. I always preferred using Debit Cards.
I've never owned a Credit Card in my life, only Debit Cards, so I can't spend money that I don't have.

Unfortunately though, the majority of cardholders worldwide are still using Credit Cards over Debit Cards (even though this is slowly changing).
So this probably won't appear to be an "Advantage" to most of them.

Most people are willing to "gamble", spending money they don't yet have, to satisfy instant gratification, because they feel that they need "this and that" right NOW.

They may see Bitcoins as a "Limitation" to freely spending and "enjoying" their lives the way they want to.
Only the more responsible portion of the population, will appreciate this Advantage of Bitcoins.

At least one good thing about bitcoin is that it don't let you spend money in advance. People get into debts with credit card so i don't see that going to happen with bitcoin. It will be a selling point on 'advantage of using btc'