To shred, or not to shred..that is the question

I am paranoid about people getting my personal information

     When I get credit card applications in the mail, I put them in the shred box.  I have a nice little box that I can take out to my personal shredder...oh wait, that hasn't worked since I dropped it during move two.
      I have a nice little box that I can carry to First National Bank for their spring shred day.  I fill it up and take it to another bank in the fall on their shred day.
      (Digression.....First National Bank goes with the FN Bank logo.  I like it.  But when you hear it on the radio, it isn't F N Bank is Fn Bank.....which I pointed out to a couple of people at the bank.  People shouldn't be saying, "Yeah, I do my banking at the Fn bank."  Sounds crude.)
      I also shred credit card purchase receipts.  Gas purchase receipts.  Financial statements.  Catalog labels.  Catalog order forms.  Donation request pages with our name already on them.  And I may have shredded a gerbil.....but I don't remember if we had them as pets, ever.
      I sometimes think I shred too much.  Maybe because I am paranoid.  I don't want someone to steal my identity based on something they found in the trash.
      Truthfully, I also get a little paranoid when I use a CC in a restaurant and the server takes it, disappears, and reappears with the card a couple of minutes later.  In France, they bring a card reader to your table...your credit card never leaves your sight.  I like that a lot more, and wish businesses here would operate that way instead of walking away with the card.  What's to prevent them from running a photo copy of it while they are out of view?  Or writing down the numbers?  Or ordering porn from a West Coast web site and having it sent directly to their PO Box in a large metropolitan area, rendering the renter virtually unknown and sticking me with a $14.95 bill for "Little Women, Big Boobs."  Not that that isn't a reasonable explanation for a charge of that type.
     When we applied for personal loans to buy a TV or a bedroom set and they asked for my Social Security number, I wouldn't give it out.  Some places went ahead with the missing information, and if they didn't, Jackie would give them her number without hesitation.  Now my number is my Medicare number and every time I go into a doctor's office, or hospital for tests, everyone can see my number and probably can access it.
     I have a fear of identity theft.  Someone will be out there being me.  And worse, they will be having more fun than me!
     So a big thank you to the banks who offer a shredding service for customers like me.