My encounter with a Fascist Bully

#1

After days of rain the sun came out and I decided to go for an outing. On my way home I stopped at a large garden centre that has nice rest rooms. Needed a coffee and a short rest too; got a latte and put down the right amount in cash.

The assistant immediately went ballistic and said cash was not acceptable. Had she been nicer I’d have got my card out, her belligerence got my back up and I decided to stand my ground and said: Its legal tender.

We don’t accept it! I picked up the coffee and walked away. Sat down at a table and took a few sips only to be confronted by a man saying I could not have the coffee. He grabbed it and returned my money and accused me of being rude (I wasn’t). I was stunned that they went full retard and created such a scene.

Shame I’m not on social media; if anyone wants to leave their thoughts on the Burford Garden Company FB page feel free. Disgusting way to treat an old lady (anyone, in fact). We need to make a stand; so many are now excluded because they don’t have cards or smart phones.

I would love to get a flash mob to go in, get full meals with drinks etc., try to pay in cash and walk away if they get stroppy. In the meantime I need to find out if they are legally entitled to refuse cash.

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#2

Where I live in Portlandia, I boycott places that do not take cash and when asked why, the answer is always a sheepish, “because of break-ins.” Nobody keeps cash on premises after closing anymore and the break-ins never target anything but cash, leaving all the merch, with no police showing up. Funny that!

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#3

The ones I find to be somewhat hypocritical are the places that do not take cash, however they leave out a tip jar for… You guessed it — CASH!!!

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#4

I’d leave a note saying sorry, I’ve gone cashless.

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#5

I have a wallet that blocks the RFID chips in credit and bank cards so they cannot track you. I hate those chips. I read “Spychips”

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#6

Thanks for sharing your unnerving experience, Undine. Something I appreciate about your posts, (and likewise the other individuals who have been sharing how they handle life experiences), is your sharing of local on-the-ground experiences, beyond “the news” that we hear through print or audio-visual media.

We’ve experienced digital purchase creep here too, at a farmer’s market! A couple of the vendors stopped taking cash! Like yourself, we’ve been trying to pay cash, but have not yet run into what you’ve experienced, and it is very sobering. Thank you for sharing about that awful experience, as it will help us to to try to prepare ourselves to respond to a situation like that if that happens to us.

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#7

I would have enjoyed someone trying to take my coffee back.
Heh.

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#8

I would enjoy watching that :slight_smile:

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#9

Here in my little part of the universe (South Western Pennsylvania) everyone prefers cash. Cash is king. Maybe I’m just shopping at all the right places because I have never had anyone turn down cash. Now with that being said, certain venues such as concerts and movie theaters you definitely need to buy your ticket a head of time with credit card or a cash app.

@undine I’m very sorry this happened to you. I don’t know what I would have done.

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#10

It didn’t upset me, I had worse for not wearing a mask. Wish I’d said something like “You need a swastika armband dear”. I pray these people will see what they are bringing in; totalitarian states are enabled by compliance.

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#11

Sounds like Norway (and maybe Sweden) are moving in a good direction to try to protect cash.

(Last week, we had an odd experience with cash. Went to a shop to buy some salt bags, and were told to go to the back of the shop, where there was someone walled off behind a glass partition. We had to slide our cash through a small slit. The people told us that they can’t take cash at their till anymore because of an “incident” that happened there.)

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#12

i would leave my thoughts but i dont wanna get banned . &^$%^$

#14

And empower the worst of us.

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