I hooked up with two strangers for a place to stay [FM]

So this happened one summer after college. A group of friends were going down to Mexico for a week to party a bit, nothing major. Due to different schedules etc, I was going to get there two days before most of the others would arrive, and I was okay with that, I figured an extra 2 days at the resort wouldn’t hurt me.

However I hadn’t really booked a hotel before, I assumed when I used my Credit Card online to book the room that also paid for the room, and in thinking so I figured I’d be “smart” and leave my Credit Card at home so it wouldn’t get lost or stolen. Turns our, standing at the check in desk sometime around 8:00 pm is a VERY inconvenient time to find out that’s NOT how hotel bookings worked and I in fact needed my Credit Card to pay for the room (yes I missed the section that told you to bring it).