I just called the CapitalOne card center to give them the list of countries I will be travelling to and through, so that I can use my card while on vacation.

I was connected to a call center in India. Trust me, I know I was speaking with a person in the subcontinent. After living there for two years, the rhythm and pitch of the way English is spoken there is very familiar to me and brings back lots of memories.

Our first problem was that he said the 3-digit number on the back of the card didn't match the account number. Then he said it was ok, after asking me for further identifying information (everything except my shoe size). Hmmmm....

Worse, unfortunately, the person to whom I was speaking, though he was familiar with the computerized process of recording travel destinations, was pretty baffled by the names: Germany was easy, Austria not bad, but then there was Slovakia. He asked me to spell it, couldn't pronounce it even once he had recorded it. Then there was Hungary (pronounced hungry!) and Czech Republic (don't even want to know how he tried to spell it).

He then transferred me to an account specialist, who couldn't repeat back to me the list of countries for verification because, he said, it wasn't available to him. But, he continued, it was all taken care of, though I might have to call the credit card company for a purchase, even though I've given them a list..

Why do I not have a good feeling about this whole business?

Think I'll call another credit card company and see if I have better luck. I'd hate to be out of the country and unable to use a credit card.

So much for a global outlook.