Users of The Facebook know that when you make a post on your timeline, probably eighty-five or so of a hundred will just sit there, ignored and maybe garnering an occasional "like', "ha-ha" or "angry" emoticon, a dozen or so might engender a comment or three, but every so often, you will put out a post that will light up the metaphorical switchboard. You never know what topic will tickle the fancy of your Facebook friends.
Two days ago, I made this post describing an experience that I had at the local DiBella's Sandwich Shop, and the floodgates opened.....
So I’m at a local fast food emporium for lunch today, and the cashier had a problem with the guy in front of me. Something to do with his gift card not covering the total amount of the bill. Anyway, the guy says “I don’t have any cash.” Is this a new thing, a millennial thing, not carrying any cash with you? Who leaves the house without cash on them? Or am I just incredibly old and missed the fact that it’s not cool to carry cash?
The incident caught my attention because earlier in the week on his podcast, Tony Kornheiser was going on and on about how he seems to be the last person left in the world who carries cash and pays for things in cash, and that is what prompted me to make my Facebook post.
So far, there have been thirty-two responses to that post that I made. Many people of my, ahem, age demographic mentioned that while they carried "some" cash, they usually paid for everything by credit cards in order to get reward points and cash back bonuses. Okay, I get that. Those same people mentioned that their kids never carry cash. Younger respondents mentioned how they not only don't carry cash, they don't use credit or debit cards, and that they pay for stuff using some app or another on their phone. This is clearly a generational thing.
Me? I start out every week with fifty or sixty bucks in cash in my wallet. I'd feel naked leaving the house without cash in my pocket. Yes, I find myself paying for larger purchases (a meal at a nice, i.e., non-fast food, restaurant) with my debit card, but I am not going to be the guy who pays for his $.99 fountain drink at Sheetz or McDonald's with a credit card. It's just not going to happen. I am also a person who likes to throw some dough into a street musician's tip jar. Can't do that with a debit card, although my friend Alyson from Lawrenceville tells me that you can if the musician has something called Venmo.
This is not just the wailing cries off an Old Guy bitching about "these kids today", but as more and more business are going cashless, real problems arise for that segment of the population that is "unbanked", and until I read this article that my friend Marilyn from Delaware sent me, I didn't realize how large that segment was.
As you will read, the City of Philadelphia has passed legislation prohibiting business to operate on a 100% Cashless basis.
Anyway, I'm not going to rail against progress, but I am still going to carry good old fashioned Coin (or Paper) of the Realm on me, and I will try my best to accept the fact that, as the wise man from Hibbing, Minnesota said over fifty years ago, the times they are, and continue to be, a-changin'. I wonder if Bob Dylan carries cash on him?
Anyway, I thought I'd share a couple of the comments that I received to my post.
From Kaye in Maine. I won't give her age, other than to say that she is a Gen-X'er:
The blank looks when your nieces and nephews open their Christmas cards and find a check... 😂 🤔 🙄
Perhaps the best response came from my fellow Central Alum and BC retiree, Dan from Kennedy Twp:
Last night after seeing Shen Yun, we walked to the parking garage where many people were lined up to pay at machines with their credit cards, phones, whatever. The cash window had no one in line, and we made the elevator ahead of them all!
See, sometimes, cash is best!
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