Sharks

One of my student workers, Ergi, was very excited today about having gotten a credit card. He told a couple of us that 'the lady' approved him even though he was a foreigner. He was happy about his chance to establish a credit history, since everyone had to have a credit history, right?

I told him to run away from the card. Run and don't look back. Then he told me that he had to charge a set amount each month or pay a fee. At least $100 each month to avoid the yearly fee. I asked him what interest rate he had. He didn't know. How much was the yearly fee? He didn't know. Could he just cut it up? He would have to pay a fee if he didn't use it. How much. He didn't know.

Later in the day I was in bathroom and I spotted a bunch of small fliers for a free pizza! It was hard to miss them since they were on the urinals, on the toilet paper dispenser, the towel dispenser, the sink.

One day only (today) and at an address close to campus. You had to have your student ID and complete a 3 minute 'student activity' to get the pizza. Having a flier wasn't necessary. Another of my student workers showed up later with a pizza, telling his coworkers how easy it was to get the pizza. You guessed it. He had gone and completed the '3 minute student activity'. It was an application for a Discover card. Did you read the fine print? No, it was just a 'standard' application. You signed a form without reading the entire contract? It's not a big deal, he said.

Sharks. Why don't they just give out free trial packs of heroin instead? I can imagine the pitch...

'Here, try this. It won't cost much if you want more.'