Electronic payment systems are taking over; there is little doubt about it. And rightly so; Life is a lot easier if you pay with your wristband rather than making sure to carry enough printed paper or bits of tin around. There are however a few drawbacks. I encountered one of them today.

I had left the office to walk over to the other building (my company is located in two nearby buildings in the city) when I was approached by this old bitty. I had seen her before, she spends her days trying to flog some newspaper or other to make a meager living. Mostly she looks destitute and cold. Well she approached me and asked me “Do you have any change for a hot drink?”. As I began to pad my pockets for the odd quid that might be left, I realized that the last time I handled cash money had been more than a week ago. I told that I had no cash-money on me at all, …

“That what everyone says these days” was her resigned reply interrupting my sentence.

… but there’s a Costa over there let’s get you a cup of tea. We ended up going to Eat instead. A hot bowl of soup still beats tea, even in Britain.

While living in a cash-free world might be convenient, let’s not forget that there is one big advantage to cash that has yet to be figured out: you can give it to someone.

We went into Eat and got that cup of soup and a sandwich for later. I got the pleasure of making sure this old bitty got warmed up and was having lunch this day. As a cash-less society though, we need to make sure that that second half of the sentence is getting said.