I got a piece of junkmail yesterday that I couldn't resist checking out. It was a credit card offer. I get tons of those and they all go to tree shaving hell. This one, however, had Tux on it! I couldn't resist. I had to have one. So, tonight I called the 800 number to get my irresistible web-footed buddy enshrined in number-embossed consumer-coated plastic.

The lady who answered was cheery and witty and whisked me through the procedure. I was a bit excited, I admit. My dad doesn't even have a Tux card, yet. I'm sooo the geek! Phone poised on shoulder, I waited through the obscure and unmemorable hold music for around five minutes to get to the guy who will be checking over my credit history.

My husband and I bought our house about eight years ago. We have credit cards that we pay off every month. Ok, we have missed an occasional payment, been late on one or two mortgage payments, but it's not like I was worried about being turned down. I was, however, very surprised to hear his decision. I was being turned down because I have NO CREDIT!

After my initial utter speechlessness brought on by sheer stupification (not to mention alliteration ad nauseam), I patiently explained to him that I have three credit cards in my wallet. I own half a house (well, ok, the bank still owns most of it, but...). He was very understanding. He's seen this over and over. NOTHING is in my name! All the credit cards that I have are in Frogmaster's name. I'm just an authorized user. They don't care that I bring in half the money. They don't care that I'm the one that pays all the bills. My name is not on anything. All the utilities are in his name. Hell, I even had to fight to get the bank to realize that my name is on the mortgage!

I had to have my husband co-apply for the card. How humiliating! My take-home pay is 73 cents less than his (and only because he just got a raise:P)! How many women have gone through this? How many have left or lost their SO's and found out that they have no credit? They can't get a loan, a credit card, nothing? How disgusting is that?

In a consumer-driven society based on credit checks - mortgages, credit cards, auto loans - it is both pathetic and sickening to be a 32 year old woman with a career having to have her husband co-apply to be able to get a credit card. What is worse, is that I should have known better. When we bought the house, most of everything went into his name for two reasons: he made all the calls and he had the credit. I never thought that being an "authorized user" would not reflect on me in any way. How many of us just don't think of these things?

Inwardly outraged, I expressed my thanks to the man on the phone when he told me "we" would get "our" card in about a week. (He really was quite nice and understanding about it, even if he was a man. Me? Bitter? No.) As soon as I hung up, I went over to my 14 year old daughter and said, "Learn from this! Put something in your name!"