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From: "Newyana2" <Newyana2@invalid.nospam>
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Subject: Re: Codes sent by text message
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2024 08:53:13 -0400
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"AJL" <noemail@none.org> wrote

| That would be me. I visit my branch maybe twice a year to get cash for
| emergencies (like if the checkout system is down) and tips. Everything 
else
| is done with the credit card. Love that Cashback card. Also love that 
folks
| who pay with cash help support it...
|
  Yes, I remember that about you. The man who would
buy an expired lottery ticket if he could get cash back. The
man who wants to purchase a gravestone that says, "Here
lies a man who never failed to get cash back."

  The trend seems to be much bigger than cash-back-mania,
though. People in this thread are actually getting angry at
merely the suggestion of having options besides cellphones
for taking care of business. Cellphones have become a lifestyle.
Many of those people are not even using charge cards. They're
using debit, Square, Venmo... They've actually become
accustomed to paying someone else to handle their cash, so
that all transactions -- even lending $20 to a friend -- go
through a payment service.

  Some people are just afraid of cash, fearing that they'll
be mugged if they have money. Others feel Jetson-esque,
waving their iPhone at Starbucks. Many young people
probably know payment services as where money comes from.
But I suspect the main motivator is just habit: Once people
are constantly using their cellphone, it becomes convenient
to do everything through it.

   As Carlos put it, people addicted to cellphones
would like to believe that everyone else "does not matter".
They not only want cellphone options, they want cellphone
interaction to be enforced as the only option. They
want to live in Cellphone World.

   I'm not so sure about automated checkouts, though. Some
stores in the US are deciding to remove or reduce them due
to theft.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/08/business/self-checkout-dollar-general-retail/index.html

   At the same time, you run the risk of being accused of
theft when using self-checkout:

https://www.coreycohen.com/blog/2022/12/have-you-been-accused-of-self-checkout-theft/

    There's also a controversy around restaurants with QR
code menus. Most people are happy to use their cellphone
to read the menu, but then they're questioning why they
should tip for barebones service...

   So we run into an entirely
different issue: How does human society work without
personal interactions? Maybe you'll be able to use your
famous cash-back charge card to buy conversations...
Perhaps Monty Python's argument service wasn't so
farfetched. :)

  I used a self checkout for the first time recently. There
were 8 women with full carts at the only Target register,
and the self checkout took cash. I don't really mind it
there. They have the best prices, by far, on household
items. And Target seems to be the only place left to buy
such a simple thing as a pack or sponges -- just a plain old
4-pack of kitchen sponges, without a "patented
scrubber surface" or any other overpriced gimmick. So
I accept that they need to cut corners. Though I have to
find another source for underwear and socks now. Target
has locked them in display cases! Apparently people were
stealing them and sneaking through the self-checkout.