It has been only 21 days I landed in Toronto and already my wallet in full with bunch of plastics.
Be it buying a Subway Pass, Be it accessing the college locker, be it getting inside the college during the weekends or getting into the house- without this damn plastic you are done. Consider this- even the cafeteria inside the school has pre-paid Cards which can be recharged. You pay the bucks, get the card, and swipe the card whenever you want to have a drink, recharge it once you are done. It has become more of a plastic life here. (Hehehe..Literally!!) So simple it is you think, right? Not really. You get so many cards, that you either forget which card to use where or you forget your passwords for the card.
Back home in India, try giving a credit card to the shop keeper near you. Chances are higher that he will come back to you saying that their shop accepts only cash. Or try giving your credit card to your “Chaiwala chotu”. I am sure that he will take back the chai with the glass from you and make some really nasty coments at you or he will take the card and run away (If he is an informed chotu). The vague instances I remember using my credit card are when I used to pay my utility bills, book my rail tickets and when I shop at high end places or eat at high end restaurants. We Indians love to see the cash in our hands immediately and we don’t believe in the biggies of “Visas” and “MasterCards”.
As a person who had six credit cards in India, I thought that getting a credit card would be easier abroad. But I found that to be a daunting task. And without this plastic, you cannot survive here. I had ended up asking my friend’s to pay for me (Thanks Guys!!) for getting me a Subway Ticket and to register in the College Associations. I thought I would be never having a credit card here in Toronto at least for the next few months. But thanks to our School’s excellent relationship and the efforts by our seniors, Bank of Montreal (3 Cheers to BMO) has agreed to give us students a credit card, that too with out an annual fee (3 More!!). I hope they really stick to their promise and give me a credit card.
Be it buying a Subway Pass, Be it accessing the college locker, be it getting inside the college during the weekends or getting into the house- without this damn plastic you are done. Consider this- even the cafeteria inside the school has pre-paid Cards which can be recharged. You pay the bucks, get the card, and swipe the card whenever you want to have a drink, recharge it once you are done. It has become more of a plastic life here. (Hehehe..Literally!!) So simple it is you think, right? Not really. You get so many cards, that you either forget which card to use where or you forget your passwords for the card.
Back home in India, try giving a credit card to the shop keeper near you. Chances are higher that he will come back to you saying that their shop accepts only cash. Or try giving your credit card to your “Chaiwala chotu”. I am sure that he will take back the chai with the glass from you and make some really nasty coments at you or he will take the card and run away (If he is an informed chotu). The vague instances I remember using my credit card are when I used to pay my utility bills, book my rail tickets and when I shop at high end places or eat at high end restaurants. We Indians love to see the cash in our hands immediately and we don’t believe in the biggies of “Visas” and “MasterCards”.
As a person who had six credit cards in India, I thought that getting a credit card would be easier abroad. But I found that to be a daunting task. And without this plastic, you cannot survive here. I had ended up asking my friend’s to pay for me (Thanks Guys!!) for getting me a Subway Ticket and to register in the College Associations. I thought I would be never having a credit card here in Toronto at least for the next few months. But thanks to our School’s excellent relationship and the efforts by our seniors, Bank of Montreal (3 Cheers to BMO) has agreed to give us students a credit card, that too with out an annual fee (3 More!!). I hope they really stick to their promise and give me a credit card.
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