in Musings |

Cashed out

I walked over to the credit union branch today to deposit a check. Right after I finished with the teller, I decided to get some cash from the ATM (though there were no less than four tellers sitting idly by, surfing the web. No kidding, I’m funny like that).

As I swiped my card it dawned on me: I could not remember my PIN.

With a chuckle, I pressed the cancel button and walked sheepishly out of the credit union. I laughed at how, how absurd it is that I forgot my PIN. Absurd … and very cool at the same time.

When we were moving, I withdrew a decent amount of cash so as to pay for incidentals, tip the movers, etc. Then we sold some furniture and I added that cash to the pile. I’ve gone to the ATM maybe once since then but haven’t had the need to. I didn’t really need to today, either, but thought I would since I was there.

For weeks now I’ve been biking to work and taking my lunches. I haven’t bought gas recently (and who can afford to pay for a tank of gas using cash nowadays, anyway?). I’ve realized I’m in a place where I don’t really need to carry cash. And if I’m not using my cash, or license, or credit cards, why even have a wallet? I’ve even considered leaving that at home, too.

So, I’m celebrating my forgetting how to use an ATM. It’s a beautiful thing.

Published

  1. “I’m in a place where I don’t really need to carry cash.”

    you don’t need to, or probably shouldn’t ?

    😀

  2. No, carrying a wallet is a good idea even if it only has some basic identification. Reason is if you get hit by a car on the way to work or are otherwise incapacitated in some manner the EMTs won’t know who you are. If they don’t know that you might find yourself in a less-than-ideal emergency room and it will take a long time for your family and work to be notified. Believe it or not this same basic scenario befell a friend of mine (who thankfully made a full recovery). However if you have a cell phone with you chances are they can figure out who you are by looking at your phone. Provided it’s not crushed in the make-believe accident.

  4. In that case, I’ll carry your cash for you. 😉

    (full disclosure: I’m not adding any real value to this post)

Comments are closed.