It's one thing to be broke. It's another thing to be broke and not have a credit or debit card.
Yeah, I guess that first line lets on a little more than one might have expected. Yesterday, I sat on two lines while people were denied due to insufficient funds or some other financial malady. I genuinely felt for them. One woman simply pulled out cash and walked out. The other went into a blame game. She blamed the machine, the card itself, the cashier, and the store, exclaiming her loyalty and her furthered business will be done elsewhere. When my turn arrived, I apologized to the cashier for the woman's words and bid her a better day. I paid cash.
Sometime during the evening, I felt bad for everyone involved. For the cashier, who had to bear the brunt, but also for the woman lashing out. I realized it was partly frustration, but mostly shame. The shame of poverty is a horrible pain. Trust me, putting something back because you thought you could afford it, but couldn't, is something many don't understand. What makes the situation worse was, these were school supplies, obviously not something she had bought for herself. She placed them back and bought the food. A loaf of bread, some milk, and eggs. If I'd had the money, well, you know.
Later in the day, I was ordering a new phone and couldn't pay the tax on it. I was frustrated but not with customer service, not with myself, not even with the situation that caused this, I was frustrated that technology takes away discussion. I had the money, simply not in numbers on a piece of plastic. I have an account to pay for my phone, but it's not credit or debit, but I was told I couldn't use that. So I am stuck with a broken phone until I can find an alternative or simply buy a phone with cash, then go to Verizon and have them switch the sim cards and activate it. I assume I could do it myself, but not sure. It's a helpless feeling that made me empathize with the woman before, despite her dramatics.
I was recently at something I was interested in and under all the other information, there was a disclaimer. No cash or money orders. Credit or Debit only. Isn't a debit, cash? When did we start moving away from the social aspect of business transactions and the use of our currency? Nowadays, kids are paying for single cups of coffee with credit cards, while I'm paying rent and for car repairs in cash. Often getting odd looks, even when I walk in to pay for gas.
The reality of the situation isn't necessarily dire but it has dawned on me that the ripple effect from the desocialization of our times, will have consequences. Our desire to speed up processes, even those we view as enjoyable, is changing us. It's a silly anecdote, but this past weekend was a metaphor for this tye of behavior. I made a vegetarian chili. The pot simmered on the stove, as a crockpot sat mere inches from it. The process I chose was more arduous but in my mind, it was real cooking. Then it dawned on me what my process added: The entire house smelled of a homecooked meal. Something that is often missing from the enclosed crockpot, the instant coffee makers, and microwaves. It's how I''m starting to feel when I pay cash. There's just something about the iprocess of social interaction that is appealing, even nostalgic. Imagine that, speaking to another person, even if smalltalk, being nostalgic?
Yeah, I guess that first line lets on a little more than one might have expected. Yesterday, I sat on two lines while people were denied due to insufficient funds or some other financial malady. I genuinely felt for them. One woman simply pulled out cash and walked out. The other went into a blame game. She blamed the machine, the card itself, the cashier, and the store, exclaiming her loyalty and her furthered business will be done elsewhere. When my turn arrived, I apologized to the cashier for the woman's words and bid her a better day. I paid cash.
Sometime during the evening, I felt bad for everyone involved. For the cashier, who had to bear the brunt, but also for the woman lashing out. I realized it was partly frustration, but mostly shame. The shame of poverty is a horrible pain. Trust me, putting something back because you thought you could afford it, but couldn't, is something many don't understand. What makes the situation worse was, these were school supplies, obviously not something she had bought for herself. She placed them back and bought the food. A loaf of bread, some milk, and eggs. If I'd had the money, well, you know.
Later in the day, I was ordering a new phone and couldn't pay the tax on it. I was frustrated but not with customer service, not with myself, not even with the situation that caused this, I was frustrated that technology takes away discussion. I had the money, simply not in numbers on a piece of plastic. I have an account to pay for my phone, but it's not credit or debit, but I was told I couldn't use that. So I am stuck with a broken phone until I can find an alternative or simply buy a phone with cash, then go to Verizon and have them switch the sim cards and activate it. I assume I could do it myself, but not sure. It's a helpless feeling that made me empathize with the woman before, despite her dramatics.
I was recently at something I was interested in and under all the other information, there was a disclaimer. No cash or money orders. Credit or Debit only. Isn't a debit, cash? When did we start moving away from the social aspect of business transactions and the use of our currency? Nowadays, kids are paying for single cups of coffee with credit cards, while I'm paying rent and for car repairs in cash. Often getting odd looks, even when I walk in to pay for gas.
The reality of the situation isn't necessarily dire but it has dawned on me that the ripple effect from the desocialization of our times, will have consequences. Our desire to speed up processes, even those we view as enjoyable, is changing us. It's a silly anecdote, but this past weekend was a metaphor for this tye of behavior. I made a vegetarian chili. The pot simmered on the stove, as a crockpot sat mere inches from it. The process I chose was more arduous but in my mind, it was real cooking. Then it dawned on me what my process added: The entire house smelled of a homecooked meal. Something that is often missing from the enclosed crockpot, the instant coffee makers, and microwaves. It's how I''m starting to feel when I pay cash. There's just something about the iprocess of social interaction that is appealing, even nostalgic. Imagine that, speaking to another person, even if smalltalk, being nostalgic?
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