SOL26: No More Cash?

            As my cold lingers on, I feel less energy to cook my own food. Tonight I went out to a Dig Inn, a Northeast healthy chain of “fast food” restaurants whose food is supposed to come from local farms. There’s a cafeteria-style setup, where you choose a grain (brown rice or farro), two vegetable sides (hot or cold, including cauliflower, sweet potatoes, kale, mac ’n’ cheese), and a protein (grilled salmon or tofu, roast chicken, meatballs).

            After I got my bowl of farro, salmon, beets, and slivered collards with quinoa, dried cranberries, and slightly spicy dressing, my next stop was the cashier, who said I owed $14.11. I got out my wallet and wondered if I had enough change for the 11 cents, when the cashier said, “We don’t take cash.”

            Oh, this is one of the new businesses that is giving up on cash? Okay, I got out my credit card and handed it over. But I also wanted to know, “Why?”

            The cashier seemed to not understand my question, because she just repeated, “We don’t take cash.”

            “Why not?” I asked again. Maybe she couldn’t hear me because my voice is getting a bit hoarse.

            There was a pause as she swept my card through the card reader. Then she said, “We were getting too many counterfeit bills.”

            Did she make that up? Is that what her training told her to say if anyone was gauche enough to ask? I have not heard about any rash of counterfeit bills being passed in local restaurants. I’d have believed her if she’d said it was a security measure, to avoid robberies.

            What do you think about this turn to cashless business?

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