confused about the use of tense

[hooootdog]

this is an excerpt of an online love story in most of which past tense is used. Could anybody tell me why is the highlighted part in present & continuous tense? lots of thanks

"...when i arrived home, i called all the companies which i had debt with, and changed my address again. however, it was late in th billing cycle, and those which had already been sent to his home needed to be paid. i sent $200 to Jim - he promised to pay for me. Next i know, i 'm getting late charges and collection calls. he had taken the money and spend it on himself. he said that i "owed him for all that he'd done for me." after all the money i'd spent on travel expenses, phone calls, gifts- going into the thousands of dollars, he steals $200 from me? but in retrospect, he was always overly obsessed with money....

[luschen]

*** I am not a teacher ***

I think the author is using the present tense to give the passage a more informal, conversational feel. Some people, especially those less educated, might use the present tense like this in conversation when telling a story to make the events sound more exciting.

To make the passage grammatically correct, you would say "The next thing I knew, I was getting late charges and collection calls ...going into the thousands of dollars, he stole $200 from me?"

[freezeframe]

*** I am not a teacher ***

I think the author is using the present tense to give the passage a more informal, conversational feel. Some people, especially those less educated, might use the present tense like this in conversation when telling a story to make the events sound more exciting.

To make the passage grammatically correct, you would say "The next thing I knew, I was getting late charges and collection calls ...going into the thousands of dollars, he stole $200 from me?"

Using present simple in stories is a common narraive device, even among "those very educated".