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David Spates Credit cards threaten
Can you imagine a world in which everyone
paid cash for everything? No credit cards, no debit cards, no
checks, no travelers checks, no money orders, no promissory notes,
no food stamps, no vouchers, no purchase orders. Everything strictly
cash. Hard to imagine, isn't it? I use credit cards and checks frequently, but sometimes I feel the need to put my cash on the barrelhead. There's something deeply satisfying to me
about using cash. I will often make an extra stop during the
day to get cash so that I may spend it proudly on whatever goods
and services I require. Plunk my money down, wait for the change
and then toddle right out the door. No one questions cash. There's no receipt
to sign. There's no need to show your driver's license. There's
no signature to verify. No credit check to make via the computer
system that always seems to go down when there's a line of 18
people behind you. One of the best features of cash is its anonymity.
I like the fact that when I purchase a brand new plunger, there's
absolutely no record whatsoever of the transaction. It's my little
way of sticking my tongue out at all those institutions in this
country that desperately want to know upon what I'm spending
my hard-earned greenbacks. When I buy a plunger with cash, the
government, the credit card company, the bank are all completely
clueless of the fact that I desperately need a plunger and have
purchased said plunger at Rick's Hardware & Plumbing. The
only people aware of my plunger purchase are Rick and me. It's
comforting to know that details of my plunger transaction aren't
stored on a hard drive somewhere. Is it terribly important that I keep my plunger
purchase a secret from the government, et al.? No, of course
not, but sometimes it's good to reaffirm your presence as an
individual - an individual who can chose to be free from credit
checks, market analysis and constituency tracking. Like I said, I use credit cards and checks
frequently, but I don't enjoy the purchasing process nearly as
much as when I use cash. When I use a credit card or a check,
I'm essentially saying that I don't have any real money with
me now, but if you, the merchant, will just accept this multi-digit
number or piece of paper with the bank's name on it, you'll have
your money in short order. I promise. I don't have delusions of ever being a multi-zillionaire,
but one of my life-long fantasies has been to someday be rich
enough that I could make all of my purchases with cash. Can you
imagine how enjoyable buying a car would be if you could simply
pick the one you want, negotiate a fair price and then open your
wallet and pay for it with cash? No monthly payments to make,
no credit check to endure, no shopping around for the best APR.
Just hand over a big stack of bills and drive home in your new
car. Or imagine buying a house with cash. The biggest
headache, by far, associated with buying a house is going through
the mortgage process. By the way, it's the mortgage process when
you fully realize how many people in the world are truly interested
in what you buy, how you paid for it and whether you paid for
it on time. If you bounced a check to Rick for that brand new
plunger, it will show up when it's house-buying time. That plunger
could cost you big. With all of that being said, I cannot ignore
the wonderful irony that I invariably use a magnetized card and
a PIN in order to acquire the green rectangles that I enjoy so
much. You can bet the frontiersmen of yesteryear never had to
stop by the ATM to withdraw some of their gold before galloping
over to Rick's to buy a plunger. |