# Man, people are weird about CASH **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 5, 2025, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591 "2025-01-05T20:00:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/101 "2025-01-06T14:38:14Z")
People seem nervous about counting cash. A check or a credit charge involves writing down or keying in the right number. To get the amount of cash correct it has to counted with the possibility of bills getting stuck together or mistaken denomination, and also counting multiple times might take a while to get the same total twice in a row. Cash seems more real than other forms of exchanging money. I think you’re likely to only be a little off from counting cash while the mistake of forgetting to put in a decimal point, adding or leaving off a digit, or just getting the first digit wrong in a written or keyed in amount can be much worse but cash is more worrisome to people… ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/102 "2025-01-06T15:01:07Z")
When I worked at a drugstore, I had some co-workers that would keep their snacks behind the register. They’d do a transaction, handle some paper money, then pop a few greasy potato chips in their mouths before the next customer came along. 🤮 ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/103 "2025-01-06T15:03:21Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > Buying a $3 coffee with a $100 bill is a dick move though. I’ve seen cashiers annoyed with this as well, but my question is why? Because you have to count out four 20’s, a 10, a 5, and two 1’s? Is that so hard? I guess if a business doesn’t do a lot of cash business they might not be able to make change but otherwise, I don’t see the issue. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/104 "2025-01-06T15:10:23Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > Aren’t the casinos all now pretty much cashless? I haven’t been to one in 28 years, but I have heard it was all chips and cards now. Yes and no - years ago, you fed quarters into the slot machines and they paid out in quarters and casinos had buckets to catch the quarters. That doesn’t happen anymore - you feed bills into the machine or use bills to buy chips and the machines pay out in tickets which you can exchange for cash at a machine or at the cashier . Since COVID, ticket machines only pay out even dollars. You have to go to the cashier for change. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/105 "2025-01-06T15:12:27Z")
Because if two people come in that a cashier needs to give change of $90+ dollars to, that means the store has to keep EACH till topped up at hundreds of dollars in cash. Which makes them a more attractive robbery target. I have managed to live in the United States for 35 years without carrying a $100 bill in my wallet more than 2-3 times. And I’m one of those dinosaurs who pays cash for small amounts. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/106 "2025-01-06T15:13:05Z")
I’ve only ever been to casinos a handful of times but I think the slot machines may have been more fun when they paid out a pile of coins. The noise of the coins and the bells from the machine added something to the experience. (I think the old machines with actual wheels that spun were also better than the modern ones with screens.) ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/107 "2025-01-06T15:32:23Z")
> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > > [@Lancia](#): > > > > Buying a $3 coffee with a $100 bill is a dick move though. > > I’ve seen cashiers annoyed with this as well, but my question is why? Because you have to count out four 20’s, a 10, a 5, and two 1’s? Is that so hard? I guess if a business doesn’t do a lot of cash business they might not be able to make change but otherwise, I don’t see the issue. When I worked retail in the late 80s/early 90s our float was $200, which consisted of coins and bills up to $10. At 10AM, this would present an issue breaking a couple of $100s without a trip to the safe in the back room. At 4PM, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/108 "2025-01-06T15:34:06Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Spiderman](#): > > > > 6% of the US population is unbanked. Philly, with it’s high poverty rate is probably higher than that. > > You can have a card and be unbanked. & there’s a cost to have that debit card if you’re unbanked, both in terms of time to go somewhere to get them to reload your debit card & most likely, fees to reload it. If you have a credit card, you’d either need to buy money orders to make payments or go to the bank branch & stand in line to make a payment on it. Again, a cost in time &/or money; which they probably don’t have. > [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > > > Are reloadable debit cards like Walmart’s Cashcard no longer widely available? > > Exactly. I don’t know because I’ve never used them but you seem to be saying Walmart doesn’t have their cashcard anymore; which is one less place the unbanked can go to reload their cards. > [@DrDeth](#): > > My wife HATES it when some jerk licks his fingers as he counts out his cash then hands the germ farm to her. She openly uses hand sterilizer after. > > > [@Sylvanz](#): > > > > Guh, nothing grosser than sweaty boob money. > > _Licked money._ I win. Nope, not a chance. Licked money is only licked at one end. Sweaty money is sweaty & wet over the entire bill. Yeech! > [@Strenger](#): > > I think the servicers of ATMs are lazy boobs. Not just $2 bills, but $10s should be standard, in addition to the Jacksons and the Benjamins. > > Lincolns even. > > They know they have a captive consumer base, and are lazy as hell. > > Think they all be special. Not lazy at all, & I assure you it’s a carefully thought about decision. ATMs by their nature are unstaffed most of the time & they want them to work. There’s only so many separate stacks in the machine; filling multiple stacks with $20s ensures that they’ll be able to service the most people. Filling one of the stacks with $2 would be a lot of buck for little bang. if an ATM had $2 & $20s & you wanted to take out $100 would you want 50 $2s after the machine ran out of $20s? One of the regional banks has free ATMs in the convenience store chains (they get some advertising & it drives traffic into the stores, where people sometimes make other purchases); They are configured to have $10 & $20 bills in them & they have recently upped their one-button-press ‘fast cash’ option from $100 to $200. I bet, as time goes by, you’ll see more $50s come out of ATMs but I don’t _ever_ see being able to get $2 bills out of one. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/109 "2025-01-06T15:37:24Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > My wife HATES it when some jerk licks his fingers as he counts out his cash then hands the germ farm to her. Gold star to the guy a while back who did this, then midway through the process, after already handling several ~~stripper butt-wipes~~ dollar bills, _licked the same fingers AGAIN_ and went on counting. Then handed me the whole saliva-coated mess, like the disease vector he was. This was during the pandemic lockdown, mask mandates, non-essential business closures … yeah, all that nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Gordon\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_G)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/110 "2025-01-06T15:39:10Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I literally have never heard anyone use the term Benjamin outside a cartoon, or bad gangster movie from the 30s. The only time I recall the term is in the controversy where Congresswoman Ilhan Omar accused legislators of supporting Israel because “It’s all about the \*Benjamins baby", a line from a Puff Daddy song. Most transactions in Thailand and China are done by payer and payee just pointing their telephones at each other’s QR codes with cameras enabled. Zero bank charge. Oddly, cash is sometimes still required for some very large transactions. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/111 "2025-01-06T15:40:19Z")
I remember some businesses refused cash during the pandemic because of the possibility of transmission. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/112 "2025-01-06T15:40:59Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > ~~stripper butt-wipes~~ dollar bills, I am _sooo_ stealing this! ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/113 "2025-01-06T15:43:34Z")
There is one place I go to get my shoes repaired - or sometimes to get new ones - and they dont take anything but cash. That’s about the only place I can think of that still does that. A second hand phones and computer hardware place was like that last time I was in there, before the covid. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/114 "2025-01-06T15:54:31Z")
It’s not even a matter of just paying for things. I can buy “tickets” to a concert or a baseball game etc with a credit/debit card- but there are no more paper tickets. Not even a printed email. I have to show the ticket that’s in my app my smart phone. Or maybe in my “wallet” ( Apple or other, but not a physical wallet) ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/115 "2025-01-06T15:59:54Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > MAGAoids and other subterraneans are freaking out about an imminent cashless society, which will force them to have implantable nano-commerce microchips which will also allow them to be remotely vaccinated and confined to 15-minute cities. Does “15-minute cities” mean “cities within a quarter-hour” or “fifteen tiny cities”? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/116 "2025-01-06T16:03:58Z")
I don’t know about Philly - but in some places that ban cashless businesses there is an exception if the establishment has a “reverse” ATM, where you deposit cash and get a prepaid card. I have mainly seen these in venues, but I suppose some large stores or malls might also have them. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/117 "2025-01-06T16:09:00Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > It’s also much easier to keep track of my bank activity when using cash as I don’t have to wait for transactions to be processed through and deducted from my account. Example: I used PayPal to pay for my son’s school books (actually a online ebook subscription) and it took _two days_ for pay PayPal to email me a recipt and another 2 days to show up on my bank statement. Absolutely maddening. With cash that’s never an issue. I find keeping all the receipts for cash purchases to be tedious and error-prone. And it’s not like I often update my books faster than electronic payments get processed. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/118 "2025-01-06T16:11:08Z")
“15-minute cities” are supposed to be designed so that basic amenities/needs are accessible within a 15-minute walk or bike ride. There’s controversy because some feel it’s part of an attempt to ban vehicles. Where it gets bizarrely paranoid is insistence that authorities are trying to imprison people within the confines of 15-minute cities, preventing their movement out of that zone. Cranks have targeted 15-minute cities along with their favorite delusional opponents - vaccines, chemtrails, 5G and the like. > **[15 minute cities: How they got caught in conspiracy theories](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-66990302)** > > How did conspiracy theories about 15-minute cities go mainstream? ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/119 "2025-01-06T16:17:23Z")
Another cash only transaction I have had in recent years is at Dollar General. They will only accept cash for gift cards. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591/120 "2025-01-06T16:35:58Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > The Po-po may even threaten to [arrest](https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2016/05/04/police-called-after-student-tries-to-buy-lunch-with-2-bill/) school kids who try to use them to buy chicken nuggets From the article: > According to Neal, the police officer told her that she could be in “big trouble” for using the bill which they believed to be counterfeit. That’s a pretty big insult to suggest that someone would be so stupid and shortsighted as to risk a 20-year prison term for a gain of $2. If I were that kid or one of his parents, I’d be damn angry. Here in Ann Arbor, **[Krazy Jim’s Blimpy Burger](https://www.blimpyburger.com/)** uses $2 bills (and 50-cent pieces) when making change for customers. A barista once got a little weirded out when I paid using one of those $2 bills, but he didn’t refuse it or call the cops or anything, and he was smart enough not to accuse me of anything. My wife and I use credit cards for just about everything. I do keep a bit of cash in my wallet (generally around $100), and I keep a $100 bill folded up inside my phone case; if I ever lose my wallet, that stashed $100 bill may come in handy. Some gas stations do offer a cash discount, but that means: - I have to walk into the store to prepay (potentially waiting in line) - walk back out to dispense fuel - walk back in to collect my change (potentially waiting in line again) - and walk back out to my car If the discount is a dime a gallon, then if I’m running on fumes I might save $1.50 for all that. Not worth it to me, especially since my credit card provides a reward of its own, which reduces the _net_ benefit of paying with cash. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-people-are-weird-about-cash/1012591.md?page=7)