This entry has nothing to do with jewelry.

There are many cons to new credit cards, but the one I'm annoyed about today is when you're trying to activate your card and they put you on the phone with a customer service person (located in India, the Philippines, or some other country where labor is cheaper) and they offer you all kinds of programs. Credit cards are bad enough. Why on earth would you want to join a program that adds $12.99/mo. to your balance? That's $156/year + interest on top of the balance you already owe. And then when you tell them you don't want to enroll in their program, they ask you why. AND, you can only tell them you don't want to enroll when you can get a word in edgewise to the script they're reading. I've had to do this twice in the last few days. Once it was for a new card, just now it was for a replacement card. The other day when the customer service agent (located in the good ol' US) wouldn't take no for an answer, I interrupted her and said, "Look, this is an optional program, and I'm just going to opt not to do it. Okay?" She was quiet for a second and said, "Okay." Then did the "thanks for your time" part of the script. I thought I was so clever.