Letters to the Editor
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Those are not the debt stories we need to hear
These are not as common as the "I got sick, then I got sicker, then I couldn't pay my medical bills, then I lost my job and my insurance, and then I really couldn't pay my medical bills, and here I am with a $100,000 debt and no job to pay it with, and kids to support."
A friend of mine lost her entire savings - though the savings were enough to prevent her getting into debt - when she got sick. She was uninsured. She now has nothing in the bank. If, God forbid, she gets sick again, credit cards will be the only way to pay for it.
Another friend got into credit-card debt when she was a teenager; her mother became ill and could not work. My friend had to pile up credit-card debt to pay for the basic necessities until she could find a job.
I ended up in a much less serious credit-card debt situation when I lost my job and couldn't sell my house fast enough. The mortgage ate through my savings, and then through my credit cards. By the time I did manage to sell the house, I was $16,000 in debt. (I paid it all off without credit counseling, denial, or parental assistance - consolidated the debt to a low-interest credit card, and chipped away at it bit by bit)
Most people who end up in huge credit-card debt do not do so because they are overgrown children who want the trappings of adulthood without the adult responsibilities that go with it. They do so because they have no other safety net. The credit-card companies provide a safety net, for a cost. People use it as such.