Column: The Apple store - Puerto en la Tormenta

I could very easily sit here and torture you with details from an aggravating episode in the Comeau family's recent European vacation.

So I will.

Don't say you weren't warned.

My bank, which will remain nameless, really dropped the ball on me. I called before my trip with my travel itinerary to ensure I wouldn't run into any security issues when using my debit card abroad. And for most of the trip, it worked just fine for shopping, dining, and cash withdrawals.

And then one day, my posse and I strolled into a McDonald's (NYSE:MCD). I ordered a meal and my card was rejected.

Hmmm.

The same thing then happened in a souvenir shop, and I get a little worried.

I then tried to withdraw a few bucks from an ATM with no luck, and my blood starts boiling.

Part of me assumed that the bank's system had made a glitch (hey, we all make mistakes -- even I wrote this absurd article), but the fact that I did take the proper pre-trip steps also had me fearing that there was an actual problem with my account.

The more I thought about this, the more I started to lose my mind.

Full story at Minyanville.