What if someone knows your address...nothing will happen.

Some adults have a very high opinion of themselves. According to them people want to steal their children, rob their house, spy on them and worship the very ground they walk on.

I came across this strange sense of self worship that adults have at my work. I work in retail. Yes, go me and my Gen Y/ borderline dole bludging career. Anyway, whenever we do a refund or give a credit note we need to get personal detail from the customer. Not their credit card details, not their sex history or their mother maiden name. Just a very simple, very non-federal police questions of name, address and phone number. Now these are the details you give to a friend, a mailing list or your Internet provider. HEAPS of people have this info! But, will you give it to poor innocent me just trying my ass off not to get fired.

Oh hell no.

Let me explain why we need this info. It is just to legally cover our rear-ends as retail assistants. It's to make sure that we are not giving each other refunds and credit notes just for the hell of it.

So what happened today was I asked a 'Eastern suburbs mother' for her details, ensuring to advise her this information was confidential and not going to be pasted onto any 3rd party.

You'd have thought I'd asked for her kidneys, both, and perhaps...i don't know...half her cerebral cortex...

"I'll give you my last name and signature" she said.

I kindly explained (whilst the Lauren in my head was growling, speaking through gritted teeth and yelling FUCK every 10 seconds) that this was for a legal purpose and that I needed her to be as detailed as possible.

Then we embarked on World War Three.

"Why are you entitled to this information! This is confidential and to be given at my own discretion!" Please note: this was not delivered in a cold and cruel tone but rather that the flying monkeys from 'The Wizard of Oz' were giving me a piece of their mind.

So I gave up.

What I really wanted to know was; why won't you give out this information? What do I want it for? I have no interest in you, especially since you have just yelled at me (cue bruised ego). I am not planning to use this information to hunt down your prissy children or turn up at your house on a Saturday night looking to crack a cold one.

I don't care about you. And yet you believe I do.

It make me think that everyone is so afraid of their precious privacy that no one is taking advantage of it. Think of it this way- if there are four people in the room, one in each corner being all private-like, who is robbing them blind??

No one. Makes me think I should start a new career, eh?

So everyone, just chill out. Think of it this way- We already know eveything about you, so there's nothing to hide.

Your neighbour knows your address.

Your mother knows your phone number.

Every shop attendant has seen your signature,

And every single person you invited to your wedding knows both your maiden name and your new one.