Man: Hey, Rachel. Can I borrow your large suitcase?
Woman: Wait. Why do you need it?
Man: Okay. Get this. Some friends and I are going to Hawaii next week, and my small bag won’t be big enough for all the souvenirs I plan to bring home. I’m going to get you some peanuts, too.
Woman: What? How can you afford that? You don’t have a job, you already have an outrageous car payment, and you still owe me $500 for that old car that didn’t last a week.
Man: Hey, those things are behind me. You see, I took out a loan.
Woman: Where? I mean to be honest, your credit history is terrible.
Man: Well, it’s complicated.
Woman: What do you mean complicated? Give it to me straight. Where did you get a loan?
Man: Well, I got a payday loan at a place near our house.
Woman: What? That’s an awful idea.
Man: Ah, you don’t know anything. And you . . . at these places, you can get a loan quickly without any hassle.
Woman: Exactly, because they can run you dry. [No.] I mean they might charge you over 300% interest compared to about 12 to 30% interest for a regular credit card. [Ah!!] A personal loan at the bank might even be cheaper. [Oh, yeah, but . . .] And then people like you get locked into a vicious loan cycle that is almost impossible to escape. Like quicksand.
Man: How do you know so much about payday loans?
Woman: Well, I took out a loan once, and it took me forever to pay it back. So, yeah, how do YOU plan to pay it back?
Man: Uh, well, I thought I’d sell my mountain bike, or my comic book collection, or you could give me the money.
Woman: Yeah, forget it. Not in a million years.
Man: Ahhhh!