Walmart closing hundreds of stores

[Broomstick]

Back when I turned 18 and didn't know shit about anything, I decided that I should have one credit card for emergencies, and that that card should be American Express. I made the second half of that decision because every other asshole in the business who showed up at my college cafeteria was giving away t-shirts with their logo on them, and Amex was giving away large Snickers bars. You ask 18-year-old, high-as-fuck (or probably even sober, really) me whether he wants to wear a corporate logo or eat a large Snickers bar and he will answer the same way every time, damn the consequences.

And what were the consequences? I think I lack some frame of reference. I have a credit card, but didn't have negative experience so far. Although I read the horror stories about what happens in the US when you overdraft your card.

It's not a matter of missing a payment or anything - it's that a LOT of places don't take American Express due to increased charges for the merchant.

[Raw Shark]

^ This, yes. I would've cancelled the card and gone with a different company years ago, but I was too lazy then, and I actually get some pretty sweet deals from them if I'm buying stuff now. They've lowered the interest on it a couple of times, too, for never being late with a payment for so long. It's only really affected my ability to purchase something negatively a few times, because I only use it for emergencies or to get the deals, but those times were a royal pain in the ass.

[Borgholio]

In other words, it's creating food desserts.

mmmm...dessert....

[RogueIce]

Back when I turned 18 and didn't know shit about anything, I decided that I should have one credit card for emergencies, and that that card should be American Express. I made the second half of that decision because every other asshole in the business who showed up at my college cafeteria was giving away t-shirts with their logo on them, and Amex was giving away large Snickers bars. You ask 18-year-old, high-as-fuck (or probably even sober, really) me whether he wants to wear a corporate logo or eat a large Snickers bar and he will answer the same way every time, damn the consequences.

And what were the consequences? I think I lack some frame of reference. I have a credit card, but didn't have negative experience so far. Although I read the horror stories about what happens in the US when you overdraft your card.

I believe the consequences to which he referred was that American Express is barely accepted as a form of payment anywhere. So he got a pretty useless credit card.

EDIT: And I didn't notice we were on a new page and your question was already answered twice over.