Credit

April 30th, 2004

This morning on the train three kids sit down opposite me in their school uniforms. They look about halfway through high school.

“Look at.. this!” says a girl. She produces a credit card and proudly announces “My own credit card!”

They all look and agree that it’s pretty cool. The girl next to her takes it and compares it to her own, bemoaning the fact that her card has a scratch on it.

“I’d never get one of those,” says the boy at the end, “credit cards are bad”.

“Yes you wi-i-ill”

“Nope. I’ll never get a credit card. I’m going to have just three cards in my wallet; a Switch card, a driving license and an American Express card”

“Isn’t American Express a credit card?”

“Yeah, but it only lets you use it if you have the money in your account”

“Oh right. That’s like the a Switch card. Isn’t that a debit card?”

“I think so. Except I think Switch let you spend money even if you don’t have it.”

“Oh right.”

And with that they left the train and went merrily off to school with their Capital One cards. Hooray for responsible lending!

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