Parks and Credit Cards

BullGuy said:
Surely it can't be that some of us are too lazy to thumb through a few bills, can it?

Probably partially.

But everything about cash is less efficient to me - using it, transporting it, carrying it, storing it...I can't think of a situation in my life where cash has a distinct advantage over plastic - except when I visit Scooter. (right, Gator?)

BullGuy said:
It's a shame those (Visa?) commercials that show everything humming along until someone decides to use cash made such an impression on some people. Those same people look pretty pathetic when they're throwing fits demanding a fee reversal.

First off, I think the use of cash is a far slower process. I look at the average Chipotle, and the cashier is the bottleneck, slowed most by cash transactions.

Your second comment paints anyone using the thing as irresponsible, which I think is a totally unfair generalization.

Gonch, that's so wild that you pay for your kids' school lunches online.

I feel so old now. ;)

"Back when I was your age, we had to pay cash for our lunches!"

I don't hate much, but I really hate those commercials, Bullguy. They are saying, "Look how inconsiderate that guy is to everyone else in line behind him for using cash instead of his card." The fact is it takes me less time to pay with cash. I wonder how much these commercials have changed people's perception of using cash.

Cards are nice sometimes though, just not every single time for me.

I find it inconsiderate when some one in front of me pays with a check, I don't quite feel the same way about cash yet. Although, I can't stand it when someone has to sit there and rearrange their bills, put them in their wallet etc at the freaking register.

Plastic is faster as long as the system is up to date. Using the burrito example Jeff used, at Qdoba I can hand my rewards card and credit card and be on my way to eating before I even reach the register half the time.

coasterqueenTRN said:
Gonch, that's so wild that you pay for your kids' school lunches online.

I feel so old now. ;)

"Back when I was your age, we had to pay cash for our lunches!"

Hah! When I was that age, we brought out own lunches to school-- and that was only those few of us who they thought lived too far away to walk home, eat lunch, and walk back again in the hour or so they gave us. All the other kids walked home and their stay-at-home moms made lunch for them. Now THAT'S old!

I don't mind if someone in front of me pays with a check, so long as they have most of the information filled out and only have to write down the amount. What I think takes up a lot of time is the info the cashier asks for that they really shouldn't be asking for. Every now and then, I get behind someone whose card is rejected, so they have to pull out another one. That takes up a lot of time too.

Maybe the people here are the exception, but with the big increase in bankruptcy filings lately, and the fact that too many people have absolutely no savings leads me to think that people really don't have a clue how much money they spend and what they spend it on.

Perhaps I am just more patient than most people, but why get upset over a few minutes?

^ That's my thought exactly. It is hard to imagine that we are actually talking about being upset about the time it takes someone to pull out cash or write a check.

To each his/her own when it comes to your own preferences for making payments. But when you start getting angry at the people in front of you because of how they choose to pay, perhaps you just need to slow down a bit.

Yeah, I don't get angry at others for their inefficiency. I don't care if you use cash, credit, check, steal, barter, trade or some form of telepathy payment.

I find using cards easier and more efficient for me - that's the advantage.

I get annoyed when all I have to buy is a roll of toilet paper and the three people in front of me in the "quick" checkout line take their time. For a bunch of people who critique amusement parks for their inefficiency you sure a patient bunch... :)

When have I critiqued an amusement park for inefficient operations?

I have no problem with saying what works best for you, but what works for you does not work for everyone. Which is why sometimes you have to wait a few extra minutes for someone to pay. And really is that such an awful thing?

Time must be more precious to some people than what it is to me. Sure I am in a hurry sometimes and get upset if the people in front of me are lollygagging around, but then I think of the people who don't have toilet paper and what a luxury it is that I get to buy it. ;)

eightdotthree said:
I get annoyed when all I have to buy is a roll of toilet paper ....

I think the real question is why do you buy your toilet paper one roll at a time anyway? ;)

a_hoffman50 said:
Perhaps I am just more patient than most people, but why get upset over a few minutes?

But where do you draw the line? 3 minutes? 10 minutes? 30 minutes. There has to be one point where it's not worth getting upset over and one nanosecond later it is. I guess this is different for each person.

Also, one of the biggest issues I have with debit cards over credit cards are holds. If you go to a restaurant and pay with a debit card they can place a hold of 120% or more of the total bill to cover for any tip you might end up writing on your receipt. Until the transaction is actually posted and the hold is released, you don't have access to that money. Your money! Not an issue with a credit card.

Plus other things like interest you can gain on the money by delaying payment, the discount rate where money now is worth more than money later, etc.

Thats why the best option is to have at least one (ideally the only ones you have) credit card(s) where you pay the full amount every month and never pay a cent of interest on. Its a debit card without holds, or overdraft fees. The problem is you have to be disciplined enough to pay in full every month.

a_hoffman50, not calling you out specifically, just 'the group.'

I think the problem with cash is that kids are not being taught how to count change. Most peeps running register don't know what change to give, they rely completely on what the register tells them.

If the person running the register is good, cash can be much faster than a card.

Click NEW MATH in my sig for more about this.

SFoGswim said:

But where do you draw the line? 3 minutes? 10 minutes? 30 minutes. There has to be one point where it's not worth getting upset over and one nanosecond later it is. I guess this is different for each person.

And it is different for every situation. If I have an urgent bladder issue, I am going to be less patient than if I didn't.

SFoGswim said:
But where do you draw the line? 3 minutes? 10 minutes? 30 minutes. There has to be one point where it's not worth getting upset over and one nanosecond later it is. I guess this is different for each person.

Only if you have 2 settings of mad.

I can be not mad at 3 minutes, sort of mad at 10 and really f'n mad at 30.

And more importantly, just beacuse a person can't pinpoint the exact place where the line should be drawn, doesn't mean it ain't there.

I get mad after being delayed by a specific amount of time. If you pull out your checkbook and can't complete a transaction in precisely three minutes seventeen seconds, I go from quietly content to catastrophic rage without warning. I've also been known to turn green and use short two-word sentences to communicate that I am about to smash.

I just get pissed when people in front of me aren't considerate. If thats not having your check filled out, your wallet out or your card out then I am annoyed. I have my card out, through the machine and back in my wallet before the cashier is done.