Credit Card Companies: A Parable

One day a scorpion arrived at the bank of a river he wanted to cross, but there was no bridge. He asked a frog that was sitting nearby if he would take him across the river on his back. The frog refused and said, ‘I will not, because you will sting me.’

The scorpion replied, ‘It would be foolish for me to sting you because then we would both drown.’

The frog saw the logic in the scorpion’s words, and agreed to carry the scorpion across. But when they were halfway across the river the scorpion stung the frog. The stunned frog asked, ‘Why did you sting me? Now we will both die!’

The scorpion answered, ‘Because I’m a scorpion, it’s in my nature.’

If I were to suggest that this were a parable about Credit Card Companies and consumers would anyone guess that the scorpion represented the consumer? Of course not. Intuitively we understand that the credit card companies are not our friends, yet when they send us “special offers” for “New” and “Valuable” services we don’t recoil from those letters like there is a scorpion ready to sting us. Why not? Do you really think your credit card company has any interest in doing something nice for you? Do you really think that if given the opportunity they won’t sink their venomous tail into your back and try to kill you? Really? Because it’s in their nature…