haunted history

I just used my credit card!

I've always been against the idea of using credit cards. I never wanted one - even though my father wanted me to have one years ago. I don't like the idea of having a magical bottomless source of money. It makes me uncomfortable. I like limitations. So that I can work around them. Live with them. Fight them even.

Cut to united states of america. The land of debt. Where credit cards are synonymous with bankruptcy. I come here determined to protect myself from the credit trap. Very soon I move from using cash to going totally plastic with my debit card - still staying away from credit. I hear people talking about building a credit history - and I think these people think too far ahead in time. I don't plan on taking loans or buying a mortgaged house anytime soon. Why do I need a credit history?!

Cut to the phone store - where I go to get a new phone connection for myself. I am told that I haven't been in this country long enough, and I don't have a credit history - so I will have to pay a crazy amount as security deposit. As I pay that money, realization dawns that credit cards are non-evasive in this country. You just can't escape them. They are a reflection of your character. A record of your behavior. As significant a part of your life as anything else - having an impact on your personal and professional life. I've seen relationships make and break (thanks to reality TV) on the basis of credit histories!

So I get myself a credit card. And today I decide to use it and begin the creation of my history - with a spicy italian pizza!


On a different note: It feels awful when I am made to do things I don't want to do. But in this case, since I've chosen to be here, I have to live by their rules...until I find a way out ;)