David McElroy

One of the women had a laptop. The other had a notebook and a pen. At first, I thought they were working, because they were focused on comparing information on the computer with a list they were making.

A third woman walked by their table — in the restaurant where I was having dinner Monday — and asked if they were ready “for the big day.”

And then I pieced together what was going on. They weren’t preparing for a presentation at work. They weren’t doing anything productive. They were merely getting ready to place their orders for Amazon’s “Prime Day” on Tuesday.

Here’s what else I learned. The woman with the laptop borrowed $2,000 to buy things Tuesday. The other one at the table told the third woman that she didn’t want to borrow any money to buy things, but she said she had $1,500 on a credit card to spend. She was explaining how many months it will take to pay off the card if she pays just a little more than the minimum each month.

Yes, you heard that right. She was proud that she didn’t have to borrow money — because she doesn’t understand that a credit card with interest payments is borrowing.

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