Somewhere, someone is laughing

A few days ago, I received a phone call from my credit card company, asking me to verify a purchase made from a direct marketing company in Europe on my Visa account. Nope, didn't make any purchases like that.

The credit card company blocked the charged and cancelled my account number, and a new card would be issued in a few days, so all in all, it wasn't too big of a deal.

Then, today. Cyber Wednesday... or whatever we now call the day before Thanksgiving. My email box and Facebook page have been filled with coupons and offers promising percentages off and nice treats for buying stuff -- mostly for myself.

One I could refuse, from Shu Uemura, a Japanese makeup brand that doesn't sell in the United States anymore. This is the maker of some of my favorite products, such as the only eyebrow pencil Asian women should ever use and a foundation stick that covers up sun damage without looking like spackle. So of course, it was time to re-stock.

I got all the way to the checkout, typed in my code, and chose my samples... only to find out... they don't accept American Express.

Somewhere, someone is laughing. And it isn't me.