Perhaps some do. I know the one in my town doesn’t. Still, I find it incredibly hard to believe that there are any machines that only take cards.
Who’s going to buy one 37-cent stamp with a credit card?
There are machines and then there are machines.
there are those vending-type machines, where you can get stamps and stuff. These take cash.
Nowadays, they have these new machines which can do all your shipping for packages…you can’t purchase insurance nor ship internationally yet, and they only take credit or debit.
But these machines have been installed (at least around here) only late last year, so improvements are coming, I’m sure.
If she just had to buy a stamp, the vending machine could have done it.
You obviously have not met some of the women I have, to some people access to an ATM card or even access to small cash loans or use of your address or phone # to apply for jobs or govt assistance is worth plenty of sex.
Not a mistake you make twice.
Name an extreme circumstance please. Just asking, cuz I would never lend my bank card, under any circumstances.
Post offices are being equipped with automated tellers, so to speak. You can mail practically any first class letter or priority mail without requiring a human to assist. The machines only take credit cards and debit cards. Of course, the thought behind these machines is for after-hours use when you need to post something at the last minute. You can find the machines in post office lobbies that are open after-hours (usually where you can access your post office box as well). We have one at our local post office. I’ve seen people use it during the day when they don’t want to stand in line.
One problem though. While you can use the after-hours machine to weigh, stamp and post your letter, it won’t get picked up until the next day when the post office is again open and staffed.
Okay, you’re at an ATM vestibule, you’ve just got done with your transactions and you’re leaving the vestibule when you hear fire sirens. The entire block is on fire and the fire is moving towards the vestibule.
The man who was in line after you panics as he fiddles with the automated deposit box thing, the box closes and, in his panic the man doesn’t grab his card in time and the machine eats it. The man’s jacket and shirt are stuck in the deposit door and he can’t pull them off despite his best attempts. The only way to get it open is for someone to insert a card and make a transaction so it releases.
But you wouldn’t be lending someone your card - you would be standing right there, and actually use it yourself. Or, turn and run - not your problem!
Yes, but I forgot to mention that you had left the vestibule, and had to slide the card underneath the door to get it to the man.
Anyways, I may be misremembering the specifics of the scenario as it’s based on a Seinfeld incident in which a guy gets stuck (somehow) in an ATM vestibule and needs an ATM card and the PIN number to get out. George Costanza is very hesitant/refusing to give up his ATM card/PIN because he has a “thing” about telling no one his PIN and also because the PIN code (which was actually a word not a number, oddly) were the last words of J. Peterman’s mother and George knows Peterman will think he’s killed her if Peterman finds out his PIN code was the same thing as the last words that his mother spoke.
I can’t think of any extreme circumstances off the top of my head. I’m pretty sure there are none in which I would lend my card to her. There are two people to whom I would loan my card in a non-emergency, my parents, and ONE outside my family who I might consider loaning it to under some hypothetical extreme situation, my roommate, who is my best and most trusted friend in the world, and only then under circumstances so dire/important that I don’t forsee ever letting him have it. And I trust him absolutely. However, he would never even consider asking, which kind of highlights the difference between him (has a firm grasp on reality) and her (doesn’t know how to function in the real world).
I think I’m going to go with cerberus’ solution for now, and see how that works out. No loans ever again. Just be my friend. We’ll see how that works.
There’s one other situation. There have been instances when I’ve been willing to bail out a friend, and I knew I wasn’t likely to see my money again, but I was okay with that.
But you should never lend money to a friend or family member that you wouldn’t be willing to flat-out give them, if it came to that. Because if getting the money back in any remotely timely fashion matters to you, then you probably lose both the friend and the money.
You should have responded: “Yes, I have five dollars for each of you.”
It would have been worth it for the look of total confusion on her face. 
As opposed to using the card to get back into the vestibule? :dubious:
And if the guy’s stuck to the machine, how’s he going to bend over far enough to pick up the card? :dubious:
And those doors fit wicked tight – how’re you going to get the card under it anyway? :dubious:
I apologize if I missed this in the OP, but you actually let her keep the fin? You are a saint!
I’ve known people like this. Run far, far away…