The phone rang and immediately the precise diction of the caller tipped me off that it was a business solicitation. After a couple of opening niceties, the spiel came.
"Mr. LeMaster, I am calling to say that you are pre-approved for our new platinum Discover Card!"
Quickly I deflated the solicitor’s enthusiasm by responding, "I am sorry. my New Year’s resolutions is not to obtain any more credit cards. Thank you for calling."
I went back to my chores, but could not seem to get the call off my mind. Like most of you, we receive frequent phone and mail solicitations for credit cards, even our younger daughter Megan whose credit history is shorter than a "give-me" putt. Any day now I expect to receive a credit card invitation addressed to Miss Priscilla LeMaster. Prissy, our dog, has never charged anything, but she has had her eye on a platinum card from Wal-Mart where we get most of her dog food.
That was what stuck in my mind--the platinum idea. Gold is no longer good enough when it comes to credit cards. Only platinum cards will do now for the really discerning consumer.
Platinum, so I am told, is the world's newest, rarest metal, discovered only in the 1600s. How rare? All the platinum ever mined would occupy less than 25 cubic feet. More precious than gold, some would say. Recent metal prices had platinum at $1116 per ounce compared to gold's $628 per ounce. Just last week The Tennessean carried a front page article about the recent wave of thefts of automobiles’ catalytic converters in our area. The reason? Each converter contains a small amount of platinum that will bring up to $100 on the black market.
Platinum is all the rage today. You have not really made it in the music industry any more when your recording has gone golden (50,000 units). You must have a platinum album (100,000 units) to really be considered a top draw. Platinum wedding bands are being touted as the superior choice when deciding to "tie the knot." And the day will probably come when we award four medals to Olympic competitors instead of the present three. Gold medals will go to mere second-place finishers. The winners will have platinum draped around their necks.
Call me old-fashioned, but you will never replace the "gold standard" as far as I am concerned. To me, a man's word can be as good as gold, but no better. And a proper silence will always be golden in my book. And, please, no platinum streets in heaven! Gold will do just fine!!

Yours ‘til they ring those golden bells,

Phil LeMaster