Cash and its many uses...

It's been said many times and many ways that cash is King. However this post is not about the golden rule (he who has the gold makes the rules); it is about the usefulness of cash.

I think I have avoided this post in the past because I presumed that this was a well known fact of life. Recent events however made it clear to me that it is not standard operating procedure for all men.

I suggest that a gentleman carry cash so that he may properly be prepared for the unpleasantness that life will sometimes put in his way. Allow me to provide some examples from own life that will help demonstrate the usefulness of hard currency.

Many years ago I attended a singles wine mixer with a friend. The mixer was oversubscribed and there was a significant lack of room available for comfortable movement. As is likely to happen in such situations people were bumping into one another with nary an apology. As I am not one to gulp wine, which of course should never be done, I was still working a rather full glass of a forgettable red wine (that should give you an indication of how bad it was, I cannot even remember the type). Inevitably I was bumped and much to my dismay I did not manage to spill the wine upon myself. No, the bump jostled me left to right and thus caused a few ounces of wine to escape my glass and land upon the trouser of a young woman standing near.

Now in my young age I did not know much, however I did know that red wine stained and should be treated promptly. I interrupted the young lady's conversation and informed her of the events that had just transpired and where the stain was on the back of her leg. I offered to pay for the dry cleaning bill and handed her a twenty as compensation for that bill. She proceeded to call me a few choice names and then departed, I presume for the ladies room to dab some water on the stain.

Other occasions where cash has come in handy, while out to dinner with my wife. We had gone to a new restaurant and just ordered our drinks when we discovered exactly how noisy the room was. The restaurant was not crowded in many way, it had very poor acoustics. My wife and I sitting opposite each other at a small table could not hear each other, but could hear the soft whispers of the couple on the other side of the room. While I am sure that such an arrangement is helpful for someone, somewhere, it was not helpful at all for us. We were looking for a quiet romantic restaurant. By having cash I was able to call the waiter over and pay for our small bill without an undue delay while a credit card was charged etc.

Cash is also very handy when out with a group of people and you need or want to leave early before the check has arrived. If you have paid attention to the cost of items on the menu you can be sure to leave enough cash. A few months ago some co-workers of mine gathered at a local watering hole after work. I had a prior engagement later that evening and knew I would be leaving before the gang left. I was mindful of the menu prices when I ordered an appetizer and a drink. This allowed me to leave the gathering at my convenience and put enough cash on the table to cover my portion of the bill. As I laid the money on the table I was assured by the group it was too much, I assured them it was fine and parted company.

There we have three occasions offering us reasons to be sure to carry cash. How much you should carry depends on several factors, how much you can, where you are and the relative prices of things, etc. On some days you may need to carry more than on other days.

Wait & Service staff

Throughout your life you’re going to have some sort of interaction with wait and service staff. Most of these interactions will be pleasant, some will be less so. No matter what remember that those folks are trying to make a living in a demanding occupation. (Don’t believe it’s that demanding? You try waiting on tables on a busy Friday night.) Under all conditions be as pleasant as possible. If an order comes out wrong, apologize and explain that perhaps you miss ordered and what you really meant was ___. Note, you can only do that if you’re still asking for the same thing just slightly different. Recently this happened to me, at a dinner I ordered a hamburger with cheese and fries. However what came out was a hamburger and cheese fries. I explained to the waiter that I must have misspoken, and he promptly brought out regular fries.

Additionally, if you make a mistake, own up to it. Not long ago I was having some trouble with math, simple addition was being deemed too remedial for my brain, and thus it was making comical errors. While adding the tip to a bill I messed up the numbers and did the addition wrong, this was probably because I was trying to talk to the parties at the table while doing the addition. Fortunately we were still at the restaurant when the waitress noticed the error and she approached with bit of trepidation. Before she could saying anything I asked if I had made a mistake (I had done a similar thing not two months prior) and extended my hand to take the check back from her. I admitted my error and apologized for the trouble.

Recently I had occasion to dine with another party at their expense (almost the best type of dining experience). The check came and was paid. As we were leaving the waiter noticed that he had made a mistake and undercharged us. He caught us and explained the error. My host presented his credit card again and waited for the waiter to return with the corrected receipt. While waiting my host called the waiter a “putz” in his absence. I found that disrespectful and wanted to comment that I found it hard to believe that in my hosts years of work he never made a mistake. What made the remark even more insulting to me was that the waiter was a elderly man who clearly shouldn’t have been working, but was still doing so because he needed the money. I would recommend that you take the example supplied by my host as a good example of what not to do. Under no circumstance should one be demeaning to anyone. There is no call, nor justification for it.

To that end, I would like to redirect my readers to the following post by one of my favorite columnists, Stanley Bing who yesterday remarked about his dining adventures.