> My SO has a driving license but only a debit card. I had a credit card but no driving license. Since we were not from the US, they explained, the driver had t

> My SO has a driving license but only a debit card. I had a credit card but no driving license. Since we were not from the US, they explained, the driver had to have a credit card. Mine wouldn't do. I ran into exactly this problem maybe 20 years ago in San Francisco, but we were both Americans. Ended up getting a rental from some super dodgy outfit: it was obvious that this combination put us in the “might be poor” category in America, even though we were definitely not. In the end it was illuminating how quickly you could be marginalized by just not fitting the standard pattern even as well-earning white Californians living in good neighborhoods.