Unfortunately our world seems to run more and more on a “cashless” basis. Many restaurants stopped taking cash during the Covid-19 plague (under the false impression that the virus lived on money?) and some still will only transact via plastic. The average credit card processing fee is not 5% but it is 1.5% - 2.9% for an in-person transaction and 3.5% for an online transaction (due to higher fraud risk).Being able to accept plastic is important for business (especially small businesses). The reality is that processing fees are a necessary cost of doing business.

When I have to use plastic at a restaurant I almost always write “on table” for the tip and then leave cash for the server thus assuring that at least that portion will go where it’s deserved. Most good servers also share their tips with the busboys and hostesses. If you leave the tip on the card the establishment many times extracts a portion for themselves and then “pools” the tips to be distributed equally among the wait staff. In some states (like Georgia) servers make less than$3.00 per hour with the assumption their tips will bring them to at least federal minimum wage. Here in the Portland, Oregon area – waiters make $15.00 per hour plus tips. Some local establishments have the unmitigated gall to add anywhere from 2-10% on top of the bill as an, “… employee incentive fee…" as such it has become quite expensive to go out to eat.

I still believe cash is king and try to use such when at all possible – but it’s becoming harder all the time. I’ve always advocated using plastic as a charge card rather than a credit card and pay full balance every month.

Most disconcerting is the ability of the card issuer (i.e., VISA, MasterCard, Discover, etc) to track and report on all of your purchases. It is one thing to track your food and gasoline purchases, but think about your firearm or ammunition purchases being tracked and perhaps monitored by those who are not Second Amendment friendly.

I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but certainly am in favor of exercising common sense and good judgment when it comes to keeping the government out of my business. Remember that every keystroke that leaves your PC (think Facebook, Amazon, Google or Bing searches, or online ordering) is recorded and traceable. You can clear your local cache but your external communications are forever kept in repositories that given the right authority are completely open and searchable.

Oh the world we live in……