It amazes me when I see people paying for gas with cash. I haven’t done that in years. The thought of actually going inside the store and waiting in line behind the cig buyers and li’l chocolate wax donuts addicts, seems like a ritual from a different era.
In fact, I don’t pay for anything, above, say, five bucks, with cash. Except for fast food and the vending machines at work, I’m almost completely cash-free at this point. I have two bank cards that get a good workout, and a few credit cards for larger things, and that’s how I roll.
I generally have a few dollars in my pocket, in case of emergency (Snickers), but it’s not unusual for me to go two or three days without seeing real money. Years ago, in the ’90s or earlier, experts predicted we’d be a cashless society soon, and I thought they were out of their minds. Now I’m almost there.
Occasionally I’ll hear people at work asking about their paycheck, and what time of the day they can come pick it up. And it irritates me. It’s none of my business, and I don’t say anything about it anymore, but come on. This is, like, 2008 or something. There’s this thing called direct deposit, popularized during the Reagan years, that works pretty well.
I used to ask people about it, attempting to mask my judgmental attitude, and there seems to be two standard explanations for not using direct deposit. They don’t trust it, or (and this is my favorite) they say, “I want to SEE my money.”
Maybe both are the same explanation, said in different ways? I don’t know. But that second one always got me. I want to see my money? Oh brother. These are the same kinds of people who describe a fender bender by puffing their chests out, hooking their thumbs under their belts and saying, “Welp… Ford and Toyota decided to get into a fight, and Ford won.” What? Can you maybe just tell me what happened, without getting all hick-theatrical with it?
Yes, I believe they’re the “see my money” folk. Them, and the people who back into parking spaces. But don’t get me started on that…
I just can’t imagine driving to my job on a day off, picking up an IOU printed on a slip of paper, shuttling it across town to a bank, waiting in line at the drive-thru (or inside with the Civil War vets), handing the paper to a person sitting on a hyper-extended chair, waiting for them to hand me ANOTHER slip of paper confirming the IOU has been acknowledged, along with a white moneyvelope, or whatever those things are called. What is this, 1965? It’s amazing to me.
Hell, our bank is in California. We have a local savings account, for the rare occasion when we need to cash a paper check, but 99.99% of our banking is done through a credit union in Hollywood, California. We liked it when we lived there, and never stopped using it. Under normal circumstances there’s no need to visit a bricks and mortar bank, and we’re proof of it. We take cash from the fee-free ATM at Sheetz, and we’re good to go.
Like I say, it’s none of my business, and I’m getting better about keeping my mouth shut, but it bugs the crap out of me when people are afraid of technology. That’s the automatic reaction, for many. Not “Holy shit, that’s amazing!” but “Ohh, I don’t know about that… it seems risky.” That attitude chaps my riffled ass.
I’m not always an early adopter of technology, but it’s generally a case of me not fully understanding the benefits. Like iPods, for instance, or RSS. I was late to the party with both. But it wasn’t because of fear, it was because I didn’t understand how it was an improvement over the status quo. What’s wrong with CDs? And what’s so horrible about actually visiting websites? Now, of course, I couldn’t function without my iPod and Google Reader.
Anyway, I saw someone paying for gas yesterday with cash money, and it got me all whipped up. I was there buying a Mountain Dew Throwback, and all the stuff above started rampaging through my head. Until, of course, I noticed the free-standing Mallo Cup display beside the checkout, and my thoughts went rocketing off in a whole different direction. Shit, maybe it IS 1965?
So, what do you think? Am I wrong? How close to cashless are you, at this point? Do you need to see your money? Do you start sentences with “Welp?” Use the comments to set me straight.
And I’ll see you guys tomorrow.
Have a great day.
Further Evidence – Thanks Jeff, looking forward to the nightmares I’ll be having tonight.
Rarely use cash but learned the hard way to keep cash in my vehicle from a bonehead move. Took me 1.5hours (due to an accident on the highway) to drive dt Vancouver and in the parkade realized I forgot my wallet @ home. Welp, I humbly had to borrow money from my clients – loser. I have a friend who doesn’t carry cash so her teenager can’t mooch – good idea,
I had to google mallo cups, looks like their exclusive to PA, mmmm – coconut.
Welp, I’m glad I wasn’t the only one that missed it.
I always wear a tin foil hat and this whole cashless society thing as really messed up my asking for spare change business.
Normally, I don’t leave comments, but today I HAD to. I am one of those people that 1) gets her paycheck and actually brings it to her bank and 2) backs into parking spaces. Now, before you get your dander up at me and those like me, you should probably consider that there are perfectly good reasons for doing these things. Let me enlighten you…I get an actual paper paycheck because my company simply does not offer direct deposit. The reason for that is their precarious financial situation in which they want to delay the cashing of those checks as long as possible…even if it’s just a day. You might ask why I continue to work for a company on such feeble ground, well, in this economy I’m just happy to be employed.
As for backing into spaces…first and most importantly, I have found that it has eliminated any miscalculations as to how close my car is to inanimate objects such as concrete barriers (which you’ll notice by the multitude of paint left behind, many people before me have miscalculated as well). It also makes it much safer if you are leaving something like a massage and you’re extremely relaxed which could explain why you once backed into a telephone pole…I digress. If you know you’re not particularly gifted in the backing out of places category with 100% success, backing into spaces can prove to be a much better option. Trust me, it works, I do it every day.
Next time you go to a titty bar ask ’em, “Where do I slide the card, baby?” And report back to me what happens.
WVKay – there was a club here in San Francisco called the Kennel Club. Back in the day it was a pretty good punk/alt venue. The crowd could get a little – shall we say – unsavory at times. One night, can’t remember the show, I walked into the ladies room and there were two women peeing like that on the wall. Yup. Standing up to pee and peeing ON THE WALL. I had never seen anything like it and I used to hang out at the Mabuhay. I checked it out online and, yup, you can find instructions for women on how to pee standing up. Check it out for yourself.
A good way to find the limit on a credit card is to bring it into a titty bar. Your next statement will have the answer for you in the amount due column.
When our Zionist masters have us all trained to do without cash then we will be ready to take the Mark and do away with even the cards…did I say that out loud?
Pretty much cashless here.
I used to have two “emergenct” hundreds in my wallet (wrapped around my “Magic Dollar:, which would make quarters disappear and reappear) but they were only there because they were Christmas gifts that I never found a use for. Spent them along with some other Christmas money last Spring for a very nice, high quality swiss timepiece.
Now when we run low on cash we hit a free ATM and split $80. That usually lasts us two to three weeks.
I spend mine on fast food mostly. I have no idea where her’s goes.
We write checks for one-offs and at places that don’t allow us to automatically debit our checking account or credit card (like for the water/sewer bill).
We use auto pay for pretty much everything that allows it, and generally we direct the charge to the credit card that gives up frequent flyer miles.
We carry no balances, so paying the bills on the credit cards actually gets us something.
Welp…(piling on here), I do loves me some Mallo Cups.
I mostly carry cash on me but do use my debit/credit card for any and all shopping purchases, or online bill pay. I have direct deposit and wouldn’t even know what my job’s paychecks look like.
I use the cash (I usually carry $60 at a time) for work lunches. Meaning, if someone pipes up and says ‘Let’s do burritos today’, I find it much easier to have some cash available to chip in then to have to go to an ATM to be able to do so.
My coworker who I eat lunch with everyday infuriates me by ONLY having debit on her. So, when we go out, she has to whip it out and take longer to sign, etc. Or, we visit places where a sign says ‘Credit machine broken, cash only’ and right then I know it’s up to me to cover her card only butt. Grrrr.
Lately we have cut back on going out to eat for lunch so my cash has stayed the same in my bag, but I am realizing why we went out everyday for lunch. If we don’t I go home a crazy bitch wanting to knife everyone around me. I need to get out of this place for at least an hour a day.
And anyone who still writes checks in stores needs to be shipped away to a far off island where technology hasn’t caught up with the world, since they haven’t either.
Oh, and WTS is a Mallo Cup?!
“I’m not always an early adopter of technology,”——
For example, crappers in the workplace……..
Melissa,
I think a “mallo cup” is what men put their “hogs” or “hawgs” into. But I could be mistaken. It’s a great slang term for vagina, I think.
@bikerchick – I also place my money in order. My boyfriend keeps it all fucked up, so when he leaves the room I will go to the desk where he lays his wallet and cash and will proceed to place the bills in order. Large to small denominations, circle thing on top. When he folds the bills that drives me insane too. I don’t know why, but I think bills should be laid flat, in the order I just mentioned.
Oh geez. I just read all that, looked in my bag, saw the bills all like that and realized I should look into smoking pot ASAP. Might loosen me up a few notches….
@Jason – Oh….so like a Velveeta Cup? Got it!
Now tell me what ‘Welp’ means. 😉
Welp is loserspeak for “I am resigned to the fact that I am and always will be, a victim of my circumstances.” The body stance for saying “welp” is chest out, eyes down and lips pursed.
1] What is a Mallow Cup ? Only one of the world’s greatest confections made in Pennsylvania by Boyer.
Its a delicious cup of marshmallow cream surrounded by chocolate with a hint of coconut. this is my go to candy.
http://www.boyercandies.com/mallo.php
2] Not to sound like some kind of liberal but people who receive government benefits (welfare) can’t have savings so they tend not to have bank accounts.
Also for many people who live pay check to paycheck the cost of having a bank account prohibits them from having one.
Identification requirements started in the 80’s are another impediment.
And lastly if you don’t have a bank account the IRS can’t put a lien on it.
Melissa:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=welp
It’s not that I don’t trust the gubmint, it’s that I don’t trust my employer. I work for a HUGE package delivery company that I will just call “BROWN”. Their position is that EVERY PENNY on the planet is THEIRS until you can prove otherwise. Sorry, direct deposit is not in my future. I will not authorize them to correct any mistakes they may have made by allowing them access to my account. I will go to the brick and mortar building on my lunch and “see my money’.
I grew up with ‘Welp’, my brother, sister & I used to laugh about extended famblies conversations when no one had anything to say, kinda went like: ‘Welp’, ‘yup’, ‘that’s forsure’, ‘hmmmm’. We still do that on occassion for a laugh.
95% cashless here…except for paying for my wife’s car last Summer. I wanted to pay the dealer with my Visa, but they would only take a couple grand on the card, and I had to make prior arrangements with the bank so that they could have MY money on hand. I did get a pretty substantial discount from the dealer for plunking down cash, plus they paid for lunch for my buddy and I while the car was being prepped.
If you DO happen to use lots of cash, your bank is required by law to report you to the Federal guv’mint any time you deposit or withdraw $3000 or more.
Clintcurtis…the Bank Secrecy Act requires all banks to report all cash transactions over 10,000. Not much of a big deal though…even large car dealerships that deposit that much cash have to have the report filed. Government doesn’t pay that much attention to the reports unless there is something fishy going on. Sounds worse than it is. (I worked for a large financial institution).
Mainly cashless. There are a few bars I go to that are cash only. And if my tab is less than 10 bucks I usually pay cash. Only consistent check I write is to the Cincy landlady (Bonecutter) and the ex girlfriend actually does the writing.
I try to do all online bill pay.
Only time I really have cash is on payday when I need to transfer money from one bank to another. My job won’t split direct deposit so the check goes to national city (Which is not in OKC) so I then hit the free 7-11 ATM (Also for a chance to win $1,000 every week), max out my withdrawal ($500) and then go to the credit union service center (TFCU) to split my cash between St. Louis credit union (1st Financial FCU, formerly Aerospace FCU) and Atlanta credit union (Delta Community CU).
1st financial has pretty good online bill pay. National shitty does not.
Since we are on the subject. I got nailed with a fee about a year ago. You know you can only transfer money out of your savings online 6 times per month? NatCity charged me $15 or $19 for every transaction after that. The reason (Federal law, btw) is that they don’t want you using your savings acct as a checking acct and they want to encourage saving. How do you encourage saving by giving me 0.5% interest and then charging me 15 bucks for withdrawing my money?
Dicks.
Some of the people that I’ve known to not have a checking account got that way because their previous account was closed down, usually for writing bad checks. And the banks share that information with each other, so it is really difficult to find a bank that will let you open an account after that. Most of those people get a paper check and go to one of those corner check cashing places (or the local bar/small grocery store/etc that will cash your check for you).
Retro: “I live in NJ, so I can easily pay cash at the pump for my gasoline.”
I’m sure that’s not a non sequitur because your corpus reflects reasonable thinking and writing, but my initial response is, “I live in Washington, so I can easily piss on your door handle.” WTH?
RB, Clint: Not that it matters much, but it’s the Bank Security Act, and it requires reporting of multiple similar currency transactions, no matter what their size, if the total over a “reasonable” period of time exceeds $10K.
Gretchen: As usual, I’m a couple days late and a few bucks short (I carry debit, credit, and at least $200 in cash, not for gentlemen’s clubs) but you did a nice job of sticking to your guns and to your point during the WVSR/mockable discussion. I would think so even if I disagreed with your position, but, in fact, I think you were right on and bold enough to speak up. Thank you.
Goylegirl: “Not to sound like some kind of liberal…”
Heaven forbid. Not to sound like one of Hitler’s brownshirts… Not to sound like Stalin’s towlboy…
You’re right — they’re all depraved, debauched conditions (if you think Korea is all one country).
So it goes…
jtb
jtb-Did you get up on the wrong side of bed this morning?
I almost never have any cash. If I happen to have $20 on me, I feel rich and decadent. How pathetic is that?
I almost never have cash. I use the debit card for all purchases. The Evil Twin’s paycheck is direct deposit and I pay all bills online. In fact, I’m thinking about going completely paperless this year – not to be “green” or anything, but to save money on stamps, etc. (like sending Christmas cards, thank you notes, etc.). I have email access to anyone I need to contact. 🙂 Plus, I have a real loathing of the USPS.
Johnthebasket: Thanks. As for Retro’s comment, in NJ you’re not allowed to pump your own gas. So I guess he means he doesn’t have to step out of his car but can just hand cash to the attendant.
All: I don’t mean to hijack the blog with this, but I seem to remember someone here asking me to update the result of my hellish MRI. Well, the doc decided that I probably have M.S. So I’ll be making friends with a neurologist pretty damn soon. Oh joy, another doctor. FYI, I’ve been sick for ten years with a “mystery” ailment that had so-called doctors, and my own family members, labeling me a hysterical hypochondriac. So it’s actually somewhat of a perverse relief to perhaps finally have a name to my illness. I mean, I know the diagnosis is craptastic, but I also know that people with M.S. can live full, long lives. So I prefer to think positive here. If any fellow Pittsburgh surf reporter can give me a heads up on an excellent neurologist, that would be most grand. You may now return to your regularly scheduled broadcast.
I stood in line for over an hour the other day at the Post Office. That place is a trip. There were several people in line with a dollar in their hand – they just needed to buy one stamp. I don’t get that. They did away wit those stamp vending machines I guess.
Gretchen: I am sorry to hear of your dx. I work at one of PGH’s hospitals and if you email me, I will give you the info for the neurologist we recommend for our patient’s. gart.tracey@hotmail.com
Soylent green is made out of people who use checks to pay for their groceries
Gretchen,
I’m sorry to hear of your preliminary diagnosis. Let all of us know what we can do to be of support.
Not to equate the two situations, but I’m at year four of a health mess that started with a bad back, made a year-long stop at a staph infection contracted through an injection of prednisone, progressed through 8 more injections, six months of physical therapy, and “ended” with a seven hour back fusion surgery. Unfortunately, I seem to be back where I started with pretty severe pain.
I have refused to become a victim of disease or the medical monolith, I have learned to live with less (I haven’t been able to work after 35 years of rarely missing a day) without feeling deprived, I laugh every chance I get (the WVSR has been very, very good for me), and I have built a pretty good support system by continuing to engage with my friends and family.
I hope you will build and exploit whatever strategies work for you, take the medical crap one day at a time, and laugh your ass off at every opportunity. You are obviously bright and funny and that’s a good place to start. Retaining a sense of humor, a sense of perspective, and a sense of the ridiculous will be a real help to you.
Don’t let the asshats get you down.
Again, let the WVSR correspondents know what roles we can play to help: researchers, sounding boards, extended family, whatever.
Keep us up to date to the extent you are comfortable doing so.
best wishes and best of luck…
jtb
Thanks, JTB.
Ognir – The new AP machines allow people to purchase postage with credit or ATM cards. These were the poor saps that haven’t got it yet. I also bet no one was standing in line at the AP machine.
Saaaaaaay. There’s a new mock at that “other” site, but not a new update here (although the Further Evidence and Bunker Cam links have been changed, which usually means an update is eminent).
I’m starting to feel a little bit redheaded…
CADude: *snicker* I guess that redheaded phrase is going to go into the annuals of Surf Reporter Speak, along with Jeezum Crow and Welp. I must say, I feel honored to have contributed.
Johnthebasket: It’s the Bank Secrecy Act. And any cash deposits/withdrawls over 10,000 get reported through a CTR (currency transaction report. Unless there is suspicious activity…then a UAR- unusual activity report- is then filed). In most cases, reporting is required if the cash transactions happen in the same day.
Monetary instruments (cashier’s checks, money orders, etc) are reported over 3000-10,000.
Gretchen, good luck.
i just setup direct deposit , only 3 years after i started my current job. Here’s my rational for living in the past for so long….
every two weeks i would deposit my paycheck and cash a small portion of it, that portion would be my spending money for the next two weeks. It was a good system, damnit!!
I also just jumped on the ATM card train recently and I’ll tell ya whhut…it’s bad news. I dont like it one bit. I find myself taking out $60 at a clip like i have a bad crack habit to feed (which i dont, so it’s a mystery to me how it goes so fast)
Annuals? Annals? Anals? What?
I think an appropriate spelling–given the setting–would be Anals.