Everyone loves debt

Ever since I left the tattered remains of my college career behind and moved into my own rental unit, I began receiving credit card offers, generally at the rate of one per month. I'd toss these out, as school alone had left me in enough debt and desperation. Fast-forward to the present and my school loans are paid off, except that someone doesn't seem to realise this, leading to an assault on my paycheque which began last year. It's a funny world we live in where somehow it is okay to harass a person continuously over the phone for money that they do not have any record of owing, but when said person tries to fight back, it is perfectly acceptable to stonewall them. Rest assured, I intend to continue sending nastygrams to the address provided by my HR department.

But I digress...back on topic to the credit card offers: I recently decided to actually take one of these companies up on their offer. "What's this," you may be asking, "have you suffered a wire-hangar lobotomy, my boy?" Maybe...

A situation has arisen where I actually need a credit card, otherwise the thought would have never crossed my mind, much less the action my hands. I have a trip planned for the not-so-distant future and I fear that joi_division's car would not survive the distance I intend on driving. Therefore, it is necessary to rent a car, and therein lies the rub. In order to rent a car, one must possess a credit card (but it's okay to put one's life on the line renting a U-Haul truck with just a debit card, as an aside). So, with my hand forced, the strange configurations of Greyhound not being optimal for the journey, I have set forth to procure myself a tool of potential financial Armageddon.

In actuality, I tried taking total control of my credit destiny for myself, applying for a card which had no monthly fees, a good rate, etc. I was promptly rejected due to the artificial black mark on my credit report (capitalist pigs). So, I've reluctantly decided to pursue one of the many mailed-in offers I've received where I've apparently been "pre-screened" and "pre-approved" (translation: "we've found a sucker"). At the moment, I'm waiting to find out if "pre-approval" actually translates into final approval, at which point I plan on taming this beast of plastic with payments in full each time I make a charge on it. In other words, I intend to be the type of customer credit card companies hate: one that they can't make any interest payment money off of because the charges are constantly paid off.

Now, the funny part...you have been waiting for the funny part, right? Yeah, so have I. It seems that ever since I accepted the offer for the one credit card, the offers for others have been pouring in with more frequency. Perhaps this isn't actually the case and I simply haven't noticed them before, but just this week I've already received two - and it's only Tuesday! It just goes to show that, no matter how dark and disgusting one's credit report may be, corporate America is always willing to try and put their filthy paws onto whatever finances you may have remaining.