Cash, credit, or debit?

Recently I've made a decision to use cash whenever possible instead of credit or debit cards. Credit card interest rates are ridiculous and debit cards are rigged to cause overdraft fees due to the bank's refusal to provide an accurate real-time balance. . . at least for those of us who spend most of our paychecks before the next one arrives. My bank's advice when disputing an overdraft fee was to get out a pen and paper to keep track of my funds and to not rely on the "available balance" offered by the pleasant computerized woman or bank website. With such great advice it is no wonder my bank has been unable to make money by lending money and instead finds itself in the Federal hand-out business. And besides, since the bank got my taxes, they surely won't need the 1 or 2 percent in merchant fees I used to generate every time I swiped my card, right?







All that aside, I've discovered a very annoying habit of check-out clerks when using cash. When did Wal-Mart insert language into their employee handbook that all my bills have to face the same way!?! When spending $8, I suppose it is not that big a deal for the poor clerk to "organize" the three one dollar bills so that ole George Washington is facing the same way on each bill. I figured this extra effort on the part of the clerk was because her shift was almost over perhaps? What if the guy in line behind me buys something for $7 and pays with a $10 bill? Are her efforts wasted?







My partner waits tables for a living. He works hard for his money and often shows up at home with $200 cash in his pocket for a days work. Trouble is, three-quarters of it is one dollar bills. Last week I made my usual trek to Wal-Mart for the usual cart full of stuff I don't need. I made the mistake of carefully counting out $120 in cash. . . yep, one-hundred and twenty single bills.




I counted and patiently waited while the clerk counted. She counted 118 the first time, 121 the second time. On the third count, bingo! As I waited for my receipt and coins back for change, she began counting again. Apparently she wanted to be sure. I can understand that. She would want to get 120 twice. She did. Then she began going through the bills a fifth time, but she wasn't counting. She was shuffling the bills around, flipping and turning each one it seemed, so that it faced the same as the one beneath it.







By this time I felt like the clown buying 47 items in the 12-items-or-less Express Lane. People in line behind me were directing heavy sighs in my direction. One even called out the name of our Lord, although I'm not sure what help He may have rendered in such a situation. The clerks shuffling of the bills was taking longer than the previous four counting episodes and people were getting mad. Were they mad at me for daring to use cash in this electronic age? Were they mad at the clerk for organizing the bills? She thanked me and said she, "needed ones." But if she needed them presumably for change, why on Earth was she taking so long to line up all the pictures of George? If it needed to be done, shouldn't it be done in the back room behind the service desk? Certainly delaying my departure, tying up the register, and forcing the other folks in line to learn the fate of the latest celebrity dancer and American Idol contestant was creating a poor customer service experience. . . even for Wal-Mart.







It's silly really, but please don't waste a customer's time by fiddling with the direction of my Treasury notes - just stuff 'em in the drawer and gimme my receipt. That's a piece of my mind.