#them. I use my debit card every day i don't even have to swipe i touch the thing and i leave. if the chip breaks i can use the pin

[transmalewife]

I don't think americans realise what a nightmarish techno-dystopia they live in. Like I'm 23 and in NY last year i felt and behaved exactly like the elderly ppl she describes. Sometimes established, analogue solutions are better and involving technology makes them incomparably worse. Bus schedules being printed on paper and attached to bus stops is not a fucking problem to be fixed. it is a functioning system and even if it weren't REQUIRING PEOPLE TO HAVE A CHARGED SMARTPHONE AND SCAN A Q R CODE TO KNOW WHEN AND IF THE NEXT BUS WILL COME WOULD NOT BE THE WAY TO FIX IT HOLY SHIT. Even paying in cash requires you to interact with the credit card machine and dodge and fight off trick questions trying to steal your money or data

Its okay they could call me on a rotary faster than i could explain to them I’m old enough to know what a rotary phone is

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

Every job I've ever had has had a script, some rambling lines I was required to say to every single customer because my boss would get on my case if I missed anything. I used to work at a fireworks warehouse, and this was around the time they introduced cards with chips in them, so I had to walk everyone through our system, "is this credit or debit? For credit, just wait until the prompt goes away; for debit, press the blue button that says credit. We don't know why it says credit but it means debit. If you have a chip card, insert it at the bottom when you see the blue arrows light up, otherwise swipe it like normal."

When I worked at Lowes, I had to ask every single solitary customer if they wanted to sign up for a store credit card and explain the benefits even if they said no, just in case they change their minds after hearing it. Management gave us quotas, said we had to sign up at least 5 people per week, which just wasn't feasible because it was a PROCESS™. On the rare ocassion someone said yes, I had to take multiple forms of ID from them, which few people carry, and type all their information manually into an old DOS system because they never updated the computers and there was no means of scanning anyone's ID, and then we had to wait for the application to go through which could take 10 or 15 minutes if we were lucky, and we rarely were; I had to close my lane multiple times and redirect a line of customers to other registers because we were stuck waiting for half an hour or longer while some Bush era computer in another state decided whether or not this person qualified for a chance to save 5% on certain business purchases. Sometimes they would get rejected and I'd have to send them over to customer service because they got mad and wanted all their info removed from our system, and on the Blue Moon ocassions that they were accepted in a timely manner they still had to wait 4 to 6 weeks for a physical card to be sent out, so I had to send them to customer service anyway to get a temporary one. But no, my manager wouldn't let customer service handle credit card applications in the first place, only cashiers, so it was a needless bottleneck.

It was not fun.

I currently work the front desk of a motel, and my boss gave me a longwinded spiel I have to give every customer after they make their reservation. She insisted I learn it verbatim, no streamlining, no improv, no variation, because "this script has worked perfectly for 20 years, so you don't need to change a thing."

"We have you coming in at 4PM on [date] in a [style of room], and checking out the morning of [date]. We have a two-day cancelation and no show policy, so if you are unable to make your reservation for any reason you have until [date] to let us know, otherwise there would be a one night charge. The room is guaranteed with the [amex/visa/mastercard/discover] you've just given me so long as it has an open line or credit, but when you get here you can pay with that card, or another card, or cash if you'd like."

I say this probably five or six times a day if it's slow, and close to 20 when it's the height of lobster season. Even with this speech, we still get a handful of mindless tourists who insist that they were told something else, or not told anything at all. "I was supposed to check out tomorrow," nope, we told you it was today. "They said I could check out in the afternoon," nope, the maids need to clean the room for the next guest so you have to be out by 10 (we give an extra half hour as a courtesy before we go knocking on doors, and we don't start kicking people out until after 11). "I asked for a room with two beds and a kitchen," nope, you asked for one bed with no kitchen, we have it written down on your reservation card and we confirmed it verbally before hanging up. They try to weasel around me by saying "well, I spoke to some lady and she said XYZ, so can you honor that?" And I tell them that the only lady who works here is my boss, and she wouldn't have told you that because she knows her own policy. And if they say "I spoke to a young man" instead, well that's me, and I know what I told them, so they're lying to my face.

[badxsshottiexllie]

A slight chuckle could be heard escaping her lips. They were certainly a cute couple weren't they? But back to the matter of hand...what was this about America falling years ago? And the fact that they no longer use dollar bills or coins.

"I carry around this coin purse for various reasons. The first being something called tipping your wait staff at restaurants. Yes, you can use your debit or credit card to do this but you also have the option to use cash as well. There are even places like coffee shops that have tip jars, and you can put your dollar bills in those jars and at the end of the day that jar is split amongst the staff."

"Don't want to use your debit or credit card to make a small purchase? Using cash or change also helps in that scenario. There is also something called a vending machine, where you can purchase a drink or snack by placing either your dollar bills or coins into it. This use to be the only way you can use these machines. However, in recent years, they've added a swipe feature to them so it is possible to also use your debit or credit card to purchase something as well in the event you don't have dollar bills or coins on you."

"Lastly, there's the scenario where not every business accepts debit or credit cards. This could be something like a food stand, food truck, or a vendor at an event." Then there was the mention of her currency getting converted to credits? Could that really be done?

"To honest miss, I have no idea. Since I collided into your boyfriend by accident, he was my first exposure to this world and I have absolutely no clue how...Eden was it? Works. But let me ask you this, if I was a collector of any kind, then why would I keep something that's so valuable in a coin purse when I use it in my everyday life? If I had something valuable, I'd keep it in a frame so they wouldn't get destroyed."

"From the little that I'm gathering so far, once upon a time, this use to be America until it got taken over by one country and expanded. So now this country is called Eden right and not The United States of America? Where I'm from, The United States of America never got destroyed and I'm from a place called New York."

Ramon shook his head when Rose mentioned the cards. "Don't need to see them. Most of that stuff is standard here anyway. I'm more interested in seeing the bills and coins you're carrying. Don't worry. I won't run off with it."

He would reach for the coin purse but would let out a small shocked cry when he felt himself hugged. He recognized that hug anywhere! He would turn his head around so it was facing backwards from his body, surprising Naida with a kiss on her lips.

"You couldn't have waited until I got home? I just bought you more chorizo! I knew we were running low and I know how much you love the stuff."

Ramon let out a chuckle before turning his attention back to Rose's coin purse. He would open it and would take one of the bills out to inspect it. His eyes showed great interest in the paper currency.

"I haven't seen dollar bills like these in years! You just carry these around? I'm sorry, what world do you hail from? Do you remember? I'm having trouble believing you are from a different world. I don't think these would exist outside of America. America fell years ago so these are difficult to come by, even for collectors.

As far as I know, most of the places outside of Eden have different currencies. Dollar bills aren't printed anywhere anymore!"

He would put the bill back into Rose's coin purse and would hand it back to her.