Rita stories...'what do you do if gas station won't take cash?'

[bobbieinok]

http://forums.chron.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&tsn=1&tid=502&webtag=hc-rita

one poster asks this question; it says 'legal tender'

another answers--it says 'rob me' to owner

did you think people might not accept cash???

[bos1]

1. "Can't Do." I had this experience at an Amtrak station.

I live outside the US, and a couple years ago on arrival at the NY airport when I went to get a ticket for a train connection (with the train waiting on the platform) I was told "no cash". Now how are people without credit cards (due to whatever reason) supposed to deal with such a situation?

That was the beginning of my view of the USA as a "Can't Do" country, which Paul Krugman also called it in this column about the Katrina. See http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0902-22.htm

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. Cash is anonymous.

[KharmaTrain]

3. Security Reasons

With the banks all messed up and towns still trying to clear the debris...having a lot of cash on hand is asking to get robbed...especially a gas station.

Honestly, if I were running a station in Houston during the evacuation, i'd be hard-pressed to want to have that much cash on hand with so many people...especially strange...and very angry people coming through.

Don't confuse this with the growing problem of an emerging cash-less society that puts tremendous power in those who can afford to maintain credit cards vs. those who are victimized by them and those who can't even afford them or want them. I've been in all those "roles".

There's no way to rent a car or make an airplane reservation without a credit card. I wouldn't complain if this were a more equitable system where credit cards were not charged at obscene interest rates or targeted at young people who will run up big balances before they comprehend what revolving means...and so on.

In light of this...I'm saddened that I'm not seeing more posts/discussion about repealing that oppressive new banking bill...especially in the wake of Katrina. But then we live in the ultimate "All For Me, Screw You" era.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. I have adressed this issue with my congress critters

that bill is the perfect foundation for a revolution, in my opinion

[preciousdove]

5. ? About a million discussions about everything everyday on DU

but talk is cheap. We cannot do everything individually and the Dem party has let all the progress made in the 20th century go down the drain and fast.

Somehow we need to find a system to allow us to trust others to represent our interests so we don't have to talk about every subject everyday. I never had to worry anyone could repeal social security, medicaid, throw the mentally ill onto the streets. Make smoking a joint a 10 year crime (unless you are in Hollywood or a GOP kid evidently.) But I do now even when the majority agrees 100 per cent with me. All corporations are stealing all pensions, avoiding taxes and sending jobs overseas. The Airlines even ran themselves into the ground so they could rid themselves of the Unions.

Too tired to think about what that might be but it is what we need. But first we have to throw out hackable electronic voting and charge SOS criminally for conflict of interest and denying people the right to vote by cooking the rolls and other shenanigans. I was astounded when that wasn't done in 2000. As we saw in NOLA, and Iraq it was lives that they took when they took our votes.