In trying to sort out this mortgage, I have spent painstaking hours on the phone between Equifax, Fico, and my auto finance company trying to convince someone, anyone, to listen and help me to get my payments showing on mine and Tom's credit report so we can get approved for a loan. This is a frustrating process regardless, but the fact that I'm having to deal with calling India, every time I call Equifax just serves to make the process even more difficult. The thing that amazes me is that somehow no matter who I speak to, they have an American name. I never get a Raj, Vijay, or Indira. Instead I get Mary, Joe, and Chris. Even when Chris pronounces his name "Curse", I'm not supposed to question it. I'm not sure what the purpose of assigning these monikers to the call center reps is, it certainly doesn't trick me into thinking I'm talking to someone in West Virginia.

I understand that in order to save money so much has to be outsourced to India where the exchange rate is good and the work is cheap, but it'd be nice if I could speak to someone for which my responses weren't being translated and then a script being read in response. Especially when it comes to my credit report. This is serious stuff yet someone who works for far less than $8 an hour is expected to give me meaningful responses to my queries. I surely pity the poor sap who has his identity stolen, as I can't clear up even the most minor of issues.

It really chaps my ass that my credit report, one of the most instrumental things in helping me to attain life goals, is help in the hands of people who probably don't even understand the way credit works in America. All the time I have spent on the phone and yet I stil know absolutely nothing about the way this reporting system really works. I am starting to think the whole thing is a racket. No one can give a finite answer to anything and while my credit rating goes into the toilet over minor errors, I can hear the sitar playing in background at the call center while Mary and Chris discuss in Farsi how royally screwed I am.

Let me get this straight, I have nothing against Indian people, but when the unemployment rate hovers at 12% in the states, people are starving, and I can't get aynthing better than a preformulated answer from a script, I have to ask myself who really loses?

Now, I must go, the latest bollywood film is on, and my curry is getting cold.