Me, My Credit Card, and Pippin

For a few years I didn't have a credit card. It was kind of a pain, but it was also kind of freeing. I could look at my bank balance and know that I didn't owe anyone anything that wasn't out of that account. I was kept from over-extending myself, because everything I did had a finite spending limit. 

But I also found myself frustrated. Not because of things I couldn't have - I'm not exactly a clothes horse or a shoe hoarder. But because of the things I wasn't able to do simply because I didn't have immediate access to the cash. I would have it at my next paycheck, but not right now. I've been putting money into savings - short- and long-term - but not allowing myself to do the basic splurges. 

So what was my first big purchase with my new credit card? After taking Christopher and myself out to dinner - because how you break in a card determines its life path, right? - I made my first "pay it off next month" purchase in years... Tickets to the touring production of "Pippin."

Months later - today - we used those tickets. And all of the hassle of having a credit card was worth it from the moment that the first notes were played through to the applause at the end. 

I had been wanting to see the show since I first heard that it would be in town. Or - rather - since I first heard about the new production being mounted on Broadway. The show was re-imagined with a kind of "Cirque" theme, where the players were also acrobats, jugglers, dancers, captivators. And all this was going on at the same time that the central storyline was happening. 

I won't lie... there are pieces of the show that are kind of slow (especially if you're only listening to the CD), but with all of the activity onstage it was amazing. It went by quickly and seemlessly. And made me so happy to have been able to purchase the tickets so that I didn't have to miss it. 

I've used my card for other purchases since then. I used it - briefly - for some Christmas presents, and I've used it for some travel planning. 

But I think I'll always be happiest that I had it in time to purchase those tickets.