And By "Green," I Mean "Cash"

Does anyone carry cash around anymore?

Last week, I attended a luncheon with some successful local businesswomen.  Lunch was almost secondary to making contacts and networking our businesses.   Yet, when the bill came, several women had to pay with their credit cards.  Luckily, restaurants are accommodating to people looking to split a bill via credit card.  However, with close to 10 women splitting the bill, wouldn't it have been advantageous for them to all carry extra cash, so there was no awkwardness at the end of the lunch?

I get that we were business women, and some like to keep track of their business expenditures and travel/entertainment expenses by isolating their spending habits.  But this seemed like a good a time as any to discuss -- how are we splitting the check?

It's times like those that I wonder just how far we've come with credit in this world.  I got my first credit card in college, probably like many, and quickly found myself reaching for the plastic soon after without really knowing the consequences behind it.  See, that's where they get ya!  In college, when you want to do stuff and your cash flow isn't exactly kicking in yet.  When I graduated it wasn't much better.  Besides the student loans, I had a lot of credit card debt.  Again, not an uncommon story for young folks making their start in the world. 

Yet, I start to wonder, what got me to that point?  I remember when I was in high school, and I worked at the mall, when I wanted stuff, I paid in cash.  If I didn't have the cash, I just didn't buy it.  Novel concept, right?  Yet, credit is doled out like candy on Halloween to some people, most people, actually.

I wonder if sometimes the greening movement that's going on right now is one that would require us to carry cash around, and try to conduct more transactions using good old fashioned currency.  Chances are, you can survive without cash more than without a credit card.  Shocking, I know.  But if you think about it, many places are equipped to take credit cards to give their customers more options.  Like taxi cabs in New York City.  Just a decade ago, if you didn't have cash, you were relegated to walking or hitting an ATM before getting in one.  Now it's almost expected to pay with a card.  You get something on a revolving basis, you need a credit card.  Want to travel?  Give your credit card number.  Need to pay for your pet's vet visit?  Break out the plastic. 

Sites like eBay have PayPal as a means to exchange currency virtually and electronically, as opposed to waiting a week or so for a check or money order payment.  Yet, these are not without their faults.  If I sell something on eBay and the invoice is incorrect, I have to issue a refund.  That's not so bad, but I get levied a charge on interest to do a straight cash transaction.  It's cents as opposed to dollars but still...it does add up and it's nickel and diming from the corporation.

PayPal also has a means of taking the guess work out of splitting a bill for individuals, by allowing a mobile payment system to exchange currency by simply bumping your phones.  Fascinating, huh?

But wait - there's more!  There is an app for your phones called "Square," that makes it easier for those who don't carry cash around to exchange on a different level.  It's essentially a way to make your phone into a cash register...of course, without the exchange of physical cash and another way of using your credit cards to make exchange of service or splitting a check more feasible.

Oh and fear not...if you are a mobile business (think of those folks who do arts and crafts at fairs but only take cash), you can make your phone or tablet into a portable cash register by using an app called Swipe.  

After all, the greening of our economy and our lives AND our wallets is for convenience.  And the more options we have, it seems the more we gravitate towards getting away from using cash and paper money.

Since I was a kid, we've all been trying to convenience ourselves out of being personal and all business.  Smartphones, credit cards and portable entertainment have given us a way to retreat within ourselves to be more reclusive, yet forge relationships with others.  It's a paradox, but at the same time, it gives us options to be a more well-rounded society.  Isn't that somethin'? 

Dreaming Out Loud

My mind went off on a tangent as it is wont to do.  I recently read an article on why we daydream, and whether it can be good for us. 

I was daydreaming myself earlier, and I thought about this article.  Mostly, what started me off was thinking what, exactly, was the difference between a "hoarder" and a "packrat."  In my head, there is a slight difference.  A "packrat" may hold on to "stuff" for too long, but can toss it out when necessary.  A "hoarder" is that crazy person you see on TV.

Anyway, I would say I have a borderline packrat personality.  For a person who can't stand paper or clutter, I tend to let a lot of it take up my life unnecessarily.  Then I thought of how I once read that someone who has a clutter issue also has a "procrastination" issue, and all clutter represents is a manifestation of procrastination.

Fascinating, really. 

I got to thinking this because I had been putting off a semi-quick project for a while.  When I first moved to the apartment I'm in now, I famously tried my hand at being handy by putting together an armoire.  I lost.  It looked okay for about four minutes before shit started falling apart.  It had two bottom drawers along with two doors.  I've hated it since day one.  For a long time, I was left to just one door and one drawer, but now they are both gone.  This was part of my procrastination problem.  This meant I had to empty out the drawer and put the remains in a plastic bin.  Who wants to do that when there's real stuff to blow off, like dusting? 

So my motivation is that I have a guest coming to town, and she's staying with me.  I'm also hosting a party in a few weeks.  As I told my husband, we should probably straighten up so my friend doesn't actually think we're used to living in a trailer park. 

So while our clothes are in the dryer as I write this, I start the transfer.  The irony is that it was relatively painless.  I even got rid of some stuff -- you know, like the single socks that I SWORE I'd find its partner at some point.  Some underwear and tops I no longer use.  Was that so hard?

So now I can toss the bottom drawer out (well, when my cat gets out of it anyway).  Then my mind started to wander, and I thought -- why did it take me so long?  And why did I live like that for such a long time?

Better yet, why am I holding onto a crappy armoire that is literally on its last legs (a door hanging on a thread that I ended up just screwing off the hinges after wondering why I hadn't done it yet)? 

The evolution of my thoughts went there.  See, when you're living in a city, you're expected to move around.  I think I've bear the average by staying here for over three years. 

I haven't replaced the armoire because I may move.  I keep telling myself till I get too lazy and just sign the lease to stay another year to avoid moving.  I hate the armoire a lot but I hate moving more.  I could replace it...but then when I do move, what if my replacement doesn't fit?  I mean, isn't this just a waste of time and money? (At least the armoire was a waste of my time putting it together.)

The quandary is circular.

But then, I started to think, well, why haven't I moved?  Besides the fact that I've moved six times in the past 13 years.  Not to mention all those years I was in college, moving back and forth twice a year.  There's also this thing called a lease.  It's good for a few months.

The next question is -- why haven't I bought a home?  Well, I'm a commitment phobe (just don't tell my husband).  I'm afraid when I commit to a home, something better will come along.

There.  I said it.

Then I tell myself, I'm also missing out on a place that could be better than where I live now.

But then I'd have to throw all the shit I've accumulated out before I do that.

See?

Then I just had this circular reasoning about this whole thing.  I don't want to move because I hate it.  I should buy but I rent, and that's what I do in New York.  I've told some friends that I see myself buying soon.  But I'd hate to move just move again.  But that's what I keep on doing.

Can you see why I even blow off dusting?

This is the trouble I get into for dreaming out loud.  See, Bono once sang, "You can dream/So dream out loud/And you can find/Your own way out." 

I suppose I'll find my own way out eventually.  But now, I've got just a shell of an armoire that I once was proud of building, but now eager to toss out with the rest of the clutter in my life and in my head.