Hard decline

I walked briskly to Saks Fifth Avenue while on a smoke break at work. Saks had sent me a little $25 gift certificate for making all those unwise and ill-timed purchases last year, so I wanted to see if there were any bargains to be had. I snapped up this kicky little blouse by Nat Nast for just $38 (after the $25 was deducted!) What a steal! Unwisely, after that, I got a little excited, and decided to go and buy a bottle of Chanel Pour Monsieur to keep in the office. Unfortunately, my Saks card was declined for that purchase. The salesman even said "it's a hard decline. There's nothing I can do." I didn't know what to do with that information. My face began to flush with embarrassment, and I leaned in closer to the salesman and whispered, "Okay. I'm going to say to you what I say to all the salesmen when this happens. 'Give me back my card. I'm going to make a break for it.'" And then I ran away from the shame of it all, looking sharp.