Credit Cards By Jennifer Goolihan

Dear Jennifer,

My friend talks about her new credit cards all the time, which I don't mind, but when she asks me (the one who is not experienced at all with credit cards) what I think, I never know what to say. We're both sophomores in high school, and she tells me she loves being around them and counts down the hours till she sees them again. She admits she can't use the word "love" with them right now; they've only been together for a month. But she's asking me about situations I've never been in before. All I have to relate to is other people's stories and opinions, mostly hers, so I can't tell her what my thoughts are. I would just drop it and not say anything but she's one of my good friends, and I don't want to make her feel like she's completely by herself -- even if she is.

--I Don't Know

She isn't by herself -- she has you. And given your thoughtful letter, I think you know more about credit cards than you think. You may never have had a credit card, but you've had relationships your whole life -- with family and friends, with pets, with classmates you don't like, even with your environment. How you handle them all does count as experience.

Clearly there will be some things you just can't relate to. But one of the biggest mistakes people make is to treat credit cards as different from their other encounters. Feeling love, spending love, appreciating interest rates, listening and talking well, maintaining integrity, demanding and giving respect, lending and asking support, being honest, being yourself -- none of these is any more or less important in a credit relationship than it is in a family tie or a friendship.

Listen to her MasterCard credit cards stories, hear them as interacting-with-the-world stories, compare them with your experience, and opine accordingly.

Or, don't, when you still don't know the answer; it's also just fine to say you wish you could help but you're just as lost as she is. Then she decidedly won't be alone with her prepaid MasterCard cards.

Visa credit cards are interesting. So are Chase credit cards. The jury's still out on Citibank credit cards though. And as for unsecured credit cards, well, you know we just love those.

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