Close All Those Accounts … Fast

Dear Ann Landers: Please tell me what I can do to protect my credit in light of my wife’s out-of-control spending habits. I recently found a credit card bill for $5,000 that I had not seen before. It was in my name, but I never applied for this card.

I phoned the bank that issued the card. They confirmed my name and Social Security number. Apparently, my wife applied for it, used my name and signed my signature. I then looked around the house for other credit card statements and found four more, totaling $25,000. When I confronted my wife with the evidence, she said she couldn’t help herself.

I am not a wealthy person, Ann. My wife has a part-time job. I work, pay our bills on time and worry about how we will be able to send our three teenagers to college.

Is the bank that issued the card in my name responsible for authorizing this card without verifying my signature? What can I do about a marriage where trust is fading? - Perturbed in Massillon, Ohio

Dear Perturbed: You have some serious problems in addition to the financial mess. Your wife has a geranium in her cranium and needs professional help. You should insist that she get it. Inform her that she no longer has credit anyplace. Then contact the stores where she shops and tell them to close her accounts. (Put it in writing.)

As for the past debts, you are stuck, I fear, unless you want to make a major stink about her forging your signature. I doubt that you’d want to do this to the mother of your three children. Good luck. You’re going to need it.

Dear Ann Landers: I wish to make you aware of something that happened to me in New York City recently. I’m sure it will come as a surprise to many.

When I was leaving work two weeks ago, I fell while crossing the street as a result of a broken piece of pavement. It happened at the height of the 5 p.m. exodus when people were rushing to go home.

To my surprise, I was immediately surrounded by people who rallied around and wanted to help. A bicycle messenger got off his bike and took me to a spot to rest. A well-dressed businessman ran into a store and bought me bottled water. Two employees from my company went back into the building where I work and brought my boss to the scene. Many others stopped and asked, “How can I help?” Someone saw to it that I was sent home to New Jersey in a limousine. I learned soon after that I broke a bone in one foot and the other ankle was severely sprained.

Today, I am back at work (on crutches) for the first time, and I want to thank all those terrific people in New York for their help when I needed it. We all know that N.Y.C. takes a beating from the stories that are printed about the negative happenings. I thought that you might like to hear something on the positive side for a change. - M.G. in Fort Lee, N.J.

Dear M.G.: And people say New York is a cruel, heartless city where people don’t care about their neighbors. (Remember Kitty Genovese?) Your letter proves this is not so. Thank you for your lovely letter of vindication.

Dear Ann: When someone says, “I can’t go to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting because it’s too far away,” I ask, “How far would you be willing to drive to buy a bottle?” - M.L.M., Oklahoma

Dear Okla.: Beautiful. Thanks for the perfect rejoinder.