Cashless society?
Posted by imamesstoo@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 95 comments
to use cash or make change anymore?? I am constantly reminded how bad youth of today is. My kids are all 20s and work as bartenders and know how to use cash how to make change properly etc. but anytime I go somewhere and pay cash the younger person at the check out looks at it blankly and like they don’t know what to do or even what they’re looking at!! And I’m talking smaller items like a drive thru! The expectation is everyone just needs to tap. Sure I appreciate the simplicity but how have we lost such a simple ability to know how to take cash and make change?! Dumbfounded every time it happens. Which is 9/10 times. And I’m Canadian and our damn money is colourful! They don’t even need to read! just look at the colours to know it’s a 5$ or 10$ etc. I digress. But I can’t be alone here?!
LazyOldCat@reddit
Lot of bars/taverns in my area that are cash-only with a high fee ATM on site ($3-$5).
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
Now I don’t like the only cash at an establishment that you could spend a lot at. Options are good to have for sure.
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
When I have a contractor do work on my house I pay cash and almost always get a healthy discount.
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
Me too. It helps us both out! The contractor and myself.
Comedywriter1@reddit
My barber prefers cash, and that’s about the only time I use it.
Even some of the London street food vendors don’t take cash now.
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
Always tip in cash to servers too as it goes straight to them!
Bright_Pomelo_8561@reddit
My car detailer prefers cash and he’s in his late 20s or early 30s. He’ll take your card so I think maybe it depends on the business. The person that has cut my hair for more than a decade is cash only. She has a very large business with many hairdressers underneath her granite. They rent booths, but she doesn’t take a single card and I live in a very large city.
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
There are definitely some industries that thrive off of cash. Those being serving bartending hair stylists. Anyone that has their own business too. Good on them. My point was mainly that the younger generations have mostly lost the ability to deal with cash and making change. Around here they look at you sideways when you hand them cash often I have to tell them what I gave them as they can’t even count it out it properly to even enter into machine to give change back. I’ll use cash wherever I can. We’re also so highly taxed on everything and multiple times. It’s gross. But that’s a whole other topic!
Ornamental_oriental@reddit
I pay with cash and have to apologize every time. It’s getting to where I’m tapping now just so I don’t get a blank stare. Getting tired of it.
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
Right!! People on here are saying some weird shit comparing stone ages or I’m just old and not adjusting. Umm not my point. My point is that they can’t handle basic currency transactions. Basic math. Cash hasn’t ever been declined… at least you know what you’re spending upfront. It’s realistic and needs to not become extinct. Which is where it seems to be heading
Secret_Computer4891@reddit
Boy, I hope you are alone here....
I wonder if our ancestors shook their fists limply at the clouds at how bad our grandparents and parents used to be. Instead of milking their dairy cow, Betsy, on a cold winter morning and walking 4 miles to the baker to barter a quart of milk for a loaf of bread they just go to this newfangled thing called a "store" where they exchanged round pieces of metal with buffaloes and Indians hammered into them for that loaf of bread.
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
That’s a little dramatic. Of course things evolve. My point is cash still exist and it always should be a valid tender. If they rely 100% on tech when that tech fails there’s no back up plan? It will fail here and there so there should be options no? Good ole cash is palpable.
mmmmmarty@reddit
Imagine that. They're slower at something they don't practice.
The holier than thou rhetoric is quite embarrassing. We had a friend who liked to complain about cashless bars. He wanted to cause a scene with his whining.
So the last time we went out with him, we left him whining at the bar where he wanted to throw his hissy fit. And blocked him as we walked away. We haven't spoken to him in over a year. But we get to go back to our favorite cashless dive without him because he got trespassed that night.
I'm not bothered at all by being cashless, but the whining is insufferable.
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
That’s funny. Far from causing a scene. That doesn’t put us in the same category so what would said dive bar do if and when their system goes down? I didn’t say I’m against tech I’m saying younger generations have lost the ability to do basic math. Yes it’s that basic. And a side note talk to any server and they’d tell you they prefer cash tips any day over a tip on a card! Thanks for thinking I’m holier than thou. Bold choice.
SDL68@reddit
The internet was down at a grocery store and the cashier had to use a calculator when I handed her 20.25 for a 19.25 purchase. She also handed me back the quarter originally. I said I want a dollar back and not .75 cents and she wips out the calculator.
TubaDog9705@reddit
Not really directly related to the subject, but loonie might be my favorite name for a coin.
Throwaway7219017@reddit
Wait until you hear about...the toonie...
RezRising@reddit
Why isn't Neil Peart on your currency yet? We're waiting.
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
Someone knows their musical greats!
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
Took the words right out of my mouth!
Techchick_Somewhere@reddit
We also have a toonie 🤷🏻♀️
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
My point exactly. How are they just not taught basic currency. And yes I get the same thing all the time too and I’m shocked. I often have to say the same thing - tell them what they owe me back. Wild.
penguin_stomper@reddit
The only thing I don't miss is the piles of pennies, nickles, and dimes that tended to accumulate. I still have a full jug of pennies that from past experience I know is about $20. Quarters were useful, I didn't have my own laundry machines until 2006.
Xavelle@reddit
The company I work for has spent a few thousand dollars so far to deal with the penny shortage. We've yet to figure out what to do because they don't expect the customer service reps to be able to figure out how to round up for a nickel in change.
Lowes rep told me yesterday that they no longer use pennies.
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
I’m in Canada and they took pennies away some years ago. Some still struggle with the round up/down thing. Again. Another basic math skill lost!
fknkl@reddit
I carry cash for one reason. Tipping at restaurants. I don’t trust the owner to pay their employees the tips properly without skimming if I tip on the card.
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
You got it! Always tip in cash. Everyone needs to know this. It’s how servers etc survive.
nonotburton@reddit
They don't practice it every day, and yeah, they're probably a little surprised. The default on the register also probably assumes charge card, and they have to use an alternate procedure. One they don't do regularly because hardly anyone uses physical cash anymore.
If this bothers you, wait till the phone lines/internet goes out and someone has to get the manual card imprinter out.
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
Haha. A couple times I’ve had to run into where they have to enter card details in and that’s hard enough for people! They definitely don’t have those slider paper things around here anywhere anymore!
Stompboxer1@reddit
When I was young, some stores had signs up that read "No credit cards accepted." Now I see signs that read "No cash accepted." Part of it I think is this: You can't steal the results of a credit card transaction, but you can steal the proceeds from a cash transaction.
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
On the other side of that how often do you also hear about cards being compromised or stolen. Cash doesn’t become compromised. I don’t have to be on the phone with someone for awhile to sort out where it went wrong and why it wasn’t me that spent that money. I just am surprised at how cash is disappearing so quickly.
Tdot-77@reddit
Cash is actually better for managing soendjng. It creates friction in purchases where we literally feel the money leaving our wallet. A cashless society is very good for those who want our money. I love the convenience of tap, but it means we have to much more aware of spending because cashless makes it way too easy.
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
Exactly. Love when the systems crash and you can’t use tap. Like what then?! It’s not perfect. But like you said all it does is track everything and put more money into the higher up hands
mmmmmarty@reddit
That's just for people who can't do math.
9inez@reddit
I get the concept.
But honestly, I look at numbers in both my business accounts, credit cards and personal accounts nearly daily. I feel the friction in those numbers and always know what they are more than ever.
That attention is facilitated by having a bank app in my pocket.
I still use cash here and there. But easily go without for months at a time.
BT_Artist@reddit
Cash is good. I know so many people who seem to be afraid of it now, and for the life of me I can't wrap my head around why that is.
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
Me neither. I’d much rather not owe on cars and pay massive amounts of interest etc. which is also why people get into so much trouble. But I guess most people would rather just tap away. But to not have a cash option is wild to me.
inna_soho_doorway@reddit
This is odd to me. Anytime I use cash there’s a register there to tell the person what to give back. The transaction is a little slower than tapping the card, but still faster than if I have to put the card in and punch in the PIN number. I’ve also never given someone cash and had them look at it like they don’t know what it is. Did some boomer accidentally post this in our sub? “mmmmmy children of course, can do this but others can not” yeesh…
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
Nope. I’m 50 thanks. I’m running into it more frequently at places. My girls are bartenders so cash tips. So they like to use cash all the time. And most of the time you hand them cash and they just look at it and don’t even know what to enter into the till to even get a read what to give back. So it’s not “give the kids a break”. It’s just basic math skills that seem to be so lost on all the younger generations. I’m not against tech in anyway but kids need to be taught how to use currency? Basic math?
laidback_freak@reddit
I'm living and working in Vietnam, cash is still strong but on the decline since covid.
That said when I visit back to the UK, the number of places that no longer accept cash astounds me. IF I find out I leave and go somewhere else. I don't want to use cards\cashless all the time. I just hate that tracking.... yeah yeah i know!
I remeber arguing that paying by card used to cost the retailer more in transactional fees, sadly that's no longer the case. However what is still true is you lose the vale of your spending as it goes down the food chain. The banks take a little for each transaction, so you have to keep making up the difference to catch up to your orginal spending power....
#sorryrantover....
#illgositinmycornerand bequiet
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
I’m with you on that one. Cash is a valid currency so I have a hard time wrapping my head around establishments that won’t accept it. How is that allowed when it’s valid currency?? It’s like an excuse to be lazy relying on tap 100% of time. And seriously. We’re talking BASIC math skills here. Some have commented that it’s just what it’s turned into and get with it crap. But the fact that younger generations either don’t recognize the look or know how to do basic math?? Cmon. Why is it ok to deprive kids of basic math skills?! What’s next. Language? Yes extreme. But that’s my point. Not learning basic math to me is crazy.
Historical_Bath_9854@reddit
I stopped carrying cash when I stopped working, and I've lost my wallet. I LOVE tap to pay.
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
What if the machines are down? No back up plan?
RezRising@reddit
Do you carry any ID with you, like a driver's license?
Historical_Bath_9854@reddit
Of course along with my insurance card. I do have a photo of my DL though.
auntieup@reddit
I have a favorite Italian coffee shop near downtown that’s cash-only. I’ll always go there.
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
We’ve have a local shop too that has based in only cash too. And the honour system which is pretty risky. But it’s managed to run 3 locations successfully for 15+ years now. And they make the best bagels and bread… reminds me I need to go!
WizardTim01@reddit
More often than not, any skill people don't immediately 'need' can go on the decline. When you (and I) were growing up, obtaining a general skill with making change wasn't really something you could skip. These days you can skip it a great deal more. So more people do. Take heart, though, a lot of people still enjoy fiddling around with numbers.
However, if you'd like some food for thought, I have a reading recommendation for you. As a Science Fiction fan, I read a short story called "The Feeling of Power" by Isaac Asimov when I was growing up.
It's set in the distant future, when computers have become so pervasive that humans have forgotten mathematics entirely, until one man 're-invents' addition and multiplication. Others are astounded he can make marks on a sheet of paper, and manage to come up with the same figures the computer does. It's a very interesting read. I'd also like to point out that it was a short story I read in the 1970's (hand held calculators were new on the scene), written in...wait for it...1958(!)
Here's a link to it in case you're curious.
(More accurately, the link is to the start of the story in the February 1958 edition of IF: Worlds of Science Fiction magazine)
https://archive.org/details/1958-02_IF/page/4/mode/2up
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
Thank you! I’ll definitely check it out!
Guilty-Reindeer6693@reddit
The idea of going full cashless scares me. I feel like a crazy conspiracy theorist, but going all-electronic gives too many other entities access to ourselves by way of data collection and the sheer ability to simply sieze your funds. I also very much dislike that cashless transactions cost money just to transact. But, we humans love convenience, myself included.
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
I agree. There’s nothing wrong with using cash. Why do we need to go to a cashless society. It removes all control. Like what if there’s a shut down and you can’t rely on tap? Sure it’s convenient. But it shouldn’t be the only option
No_Maintenance_9608@reddit
This.
Dependent_Pipe3268@reddit
The register does the math for them they just have to punch the numbers in. Wtf am I missing?
imamesstoo@reddit (OP)
When you physically hand them cash they can’t even count how much you gave them in the first place as money seems so foreign to everyone now. So that’s where it started with my rant.
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
You are not alone I had to show one kid how to count the money back to me when they dumped the money in front of proclaiming here is your change! I asked how do I know that is correct? She looked at me like I grew a third eye. I then told her to count it back, and had no idea how to do it !
shartheheretic@reddit
I would have looked at you like that also if you "told" me to count back change. Was the "kid" using a cash register? If so, you do know that the register shows what the correct change is to give back, correct? It isn't up to you to boss around a person who is probably working for minimum wage.
I can't believe so many of my Gen-X cohorts are turning into crusty old people.
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
You don’t understand it is common courtesy to count the money back. Not count change. Count it back to what you gave them! It also protects the business. I gave her a $20 for $12.65 you count it back. .35¢ makes $13 then come the ones, $14 $15 and $5 makes $20. Everyone knows what transaction just took place. Her till will come out correct everyday because this system catches mistakes and also avoids change scams! This is not being grumpy, this is protecting someone else’s business by training their employee. The next time my wife went in and used cash and she counted back correctly. I’m willing to bet that an employee that does this will be getting a raise.
shartheheretic@reddit
Nope. I managed two different antique malls and my Gen X ass would have laughed at you if you had the absolute gall to pull that boomer shit with me or my employees. Or do you only do it with younger people so you can treat them like children?
Our till was never off even by a penny in the course of over 10 years, so your theory is BS.
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
You still don’t get it read it again! BTW I am not boomer same gen as you! And your antique store isn’t dealing in high revenue. My first job we were taught you take their money lay it sideways on top of the till, make change count it back to them, then you place their money in the till. And why are you all grumpy and bent out of shape ? You had your own business and never lost a penny!
shartheheretic@reddit
I know you're Gen X, but you're acting like a crusty old boomer. It doesn't matter what you were taught way back in the history of the world with your first job. Things change.
You're the one who doesn't seem to understand that people don't need to count back change when everything is calculated by the register. If a person is working a minimum wage job at a big box store (which is what I assume you mean by "high revenue"), they don't have time for your petty "back in MY day" lessons. The person that you think is going to get commended for following your little tirade will probably get yelled at for taking too much time to ring people up/cash people out if they do it all the time.
Again, what do you do when the register has the slot that gives the coins directly to you? Do you whine and tell them to grab them and count them back to you?
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
I get it now! You are a kid working in a big box store that can’t be bothered by common courtesy toward those who pay your check aka customers. You’ll go far. Right to the unemployment line hoping for a handout! Gen Z lazy fucks!
shartheheretic@reddit
Not even close, pookie. I'm a relativey early Gen Xer (1968), but I've worked in tons of customer facing positions since I was a kid (some retail/in person, some office oriented). Like I said, if your crusty ass ever tried to tell me or one of my employees that we needed to count back your precious change, you would be lucky if all we did was laugh at you.
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
Get a real job. Gen Z kid!
shartheheretic@reddit
Again, I'm an older Gen X, pookie. I'm just not a Boomer-lite like you.
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
A Gen X wouldn’t get this bent out of shape about a little thing unless you have a personal stake. GenZ get a job!
shartheheretic@reddit
Actually, asshole Gen Xers like you don't have empathy (thus why you act like a Boomer-lite). Some of do, though. So we can see what the world is really like for the Gen Zs and Gen Alphas because of past generations' selfishness (including ours - I am teuly disappointed in many Gen Xers).
I'm sorry that you have so little empathy that you can't comprehend a Gen X person giving a shit about the bad situation we've allowed to be handed down to those kids.
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
We let you guys skate through your first jobs you think the rest of life is that way. Get a clue LIFE IS NOT FAIR and does not play fair. Work hard at work and time off is yours!
shartheheretic@reddit
DUDE. I am literally 58 years old. My birthday was last month. I graduated high school in 1985 (a year early, after skipping from 2nd to 4th grade when I was a kid). I spent all my college years bartending, I worked in the mortgage business for 20+ years, and I've owned my own business for almost 20 years. I was a new wave/punk loving teenager. My favorite artist is Elvis Costello. I also loved funk music and am now tickled pink (or purple? LOL) because I recently moved to Prince's home town. Also the hometown of one of my favorite bands (The Replacements).
I was just born with a huge empathetic streak, so I can put myself in other people's shoes and I don't have to have lived it myself to be able to understand what others are dealing with.
Again, I'm sorry that you are apparently one those folks in our generation who don't care what happens to anyone but themselves and MAYBE their spouse/children. I truly feel sad that you've decided to embrace selfishness so fully.
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
Wow sounds like you are looking for a date. All I got for you! Back to the rack of ribs I am smoking and the Cole slaw I’m chopping up😛
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
Ok, fine, be that way.
shartheheretic@reddit
Has anyone ever told you that you're just weird? Because holy shit.
shartheheretic@reddit
You can find a closeup photo of my eye from a few years ago when I fell and busted up my face. If you look at it, you'll see the wrinkles and some gray hairs.
worstpartyever@reddit
I just moved to a rural area where all the shops & restaurants add 3% to the bill if you pay by card.
Guilty-Reindeer6693@reddit
Electronic money transactions aren't free. Businesses pay them as part of their own banking agreements (and the cost is passed on to the consumer). With cash, there are no fees. I have real issue with being charged an extra fee that's payable to a third party, in order to exchange money for goods or services.
OldLifeguard-00@reddit
That’s not just a rural thing …
DPax_23@reddit
People who use something less are less fast about using it? Shocking.
These 'kids these days' posts are embarrassing. I get it. We drank from garden hoses, used... ellipses to great effect, and walked to school uphill both ways. Amazing wow!
I watch Gen Xers look dumbfounded at tap to pay all the time BTW. I'm still hesitating to use my watch/phone to tap to pay even though I set it up. I carry a card even when I go running.
This is all normal generational adaptation and they're not worse and we're not better.
FaithlessnessCool849@reddit
Perfectly stated
GenX-ModTeam@reddit
Prejudices & Hostility - No speech of any form targeting anyone, including but not limited to:
FaithlessnessCool849@reddit
My son's friend was murdered during a robbery while working at a Papa John's. I have been in support of a cashless society ever since.
fridayimatwork@reddit
I only use cash at garage sales
Sufficient_Stop8381@reddit
I still use cash since a lot of places started charging you extra for using a card.
RezRising@reddit
I'm in Bridgeport CT today. Had an establishment offer 4% less if you pay in cash.
It sounded good, made me feel good, annnnd once I realized their "4% off" is just saying, "You won't get charged the card fee we charge everyone," I still thought it was clever marketing.
AirDonkey1@reddit
With the different rewards cards one-upping each other over the last 15 years, CC fees were getting really high for businesses. Same reason places wouldn’t accept Amex. Now it’s legal for businesses to pass on the CC fees to customers as long as they don’t make money off of it. 4% is risky, 3% is the norm currently.
I expect eventually POS systems will be able to know the exact percentage for types of cards and pass that on, so the better your rewards card sounds to you, the more you’ll pay every time you use it, which is great in the long run for everyone except visa, MC, etc
2000TWLV@reddit
This is a weird complaint. Things change. I don't miss cash one bit. I carry my ID and one credit card in my phone case and even that card barely comes out. Love it.
No_Maintenance_9608@reddit
I still use cash regularly but definitely more and more cashless. Sometimes I don’t have a choice when I try to use cash and the Gen Z cashier can’t even figure out the amount of change they should give back to me. 🤦🏻♂️
BigLoveForNoodles@reddit
Boomers said exactly the same thing about us all the time when we were the ones in shitty minimum wage service jobs. If you were on your feet for eight hours a day, you might not be able to do arithmetic quite as fast either, so cut the guy at Timmy Ho’s little slack maybe.
WorldsWorstTroll@reddit
Yeah, I remember the comments people made about not being able to count change when I was bartending in the 90s.
Yeah grandpa, you figure out change faster by adding, not subtracting. Go back to putting olives in your Bud Light weirdo.
MollyDog2638@reddit
I work as a vintage reseller, and cash is still very much in use in my world. Garage sales, estate sales, thrift stores, and even in my own mall people pay cash all the time.
b1e9t4t1y@reddit
Corporations are pushing digital currency to a society that can’t do basic math. Guess who’s going to get robbed?
BrilliantWeb@reddit
I'm 100% pro cashless. My dry cleaner is cash-only and it's a PITA because I have to add an extra errand to go get cash. I was in Romania and the whole damn country is tap to pay. It's fantastic. We look primitive in comparison.
Distinct_Magician713@reddit
Society evolves. Sometimes it's painful.
Flababulous@reddit
Cashless unless traveling/eating out where tips are needed.
All finances managed online, haven't written a check in years (well over a decade since I thought about balancing a checkbook).
I have retired the phrase "tap MAC"...
Impossible_Jury5483@reddit
I travel in the U.S. quite a bit. Cash is dead unless youre in NOLA. Otherwise people complaining about pennies at the store are the new version of old people writing checks and using coupons.
Norse_By_North_West@reddit
I've barely used cash since the late 90s. In Canada we've had debit card payment a long time.
lancerreddit@reddit
I haven't carried cash probably for the last 7-8 years. Nobody uses cash where I live in California.