Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Why Do So Many of You Think Carrying Cash Is 'Dangerous'?
An anonymous reader writes: Recently, I asked Slashdot what you thought about paying for things online using plastic, and the security of using plastic in general; thank you all for your many and varied responses, they're all much appreciated and gave me things to consider.
However, I got quite a few responses that puzzled me: People claiming that paying for things with cash, and carrying any amount of cash around at all, was somehow dangerous, that I'd be "robbed," and that I shouldn't carry cash at all, only plastic. I'm Gen-Y; I've walked around my entire life, in all sorts of places, and have never been approached or robbed by anyone, so I'm more than a little puzzled by that.
So now I ask you, Slashdotters: Why do you think carrying cash is so dangerous? Where do you live/spend your time that you worry so much about being robbed? Have you been robbed before, and that's why you feel this way? I'm not going to stop carrying cash in my wallet but I'd like to understand why it is so many of you feel this way -- so please be thorough in your explanations.
However, I got quite a few responses that puzzled me: People claiming that paying for things with cash, and carrying any amount of cash around at all, was somehow dangerous, that I'd be "robbed," and that I shouldn't carry cash at all, only plastic. I'm Gen-Y; I've walked around my entire life, in all sorts of places, and have never been approached or robbed by anyone, so I'm more than a little puzzled by that.
So now I ask you, Slashdotters: Why do you think carrying cash is so dangerous? Where do you live/spend your time that you worry so much about being robbed? Have you been robbed before, and that's why you feel this way? I'm not going to stop carrying cash in my wallet but I'd like to understand why it is so many of you feel this way -- so please be thorough in your explanations.
I was robbed by a millennial looking to raise money for a gender reassignment operation
If a thief can tell from a distance whether you are carrying cash or credit cards, well, you are holding it wrong.
Limit the amount of cash you bring into the nudie bar, 'cause you won't be leaving with any.
Protip: The Bundy Dollar...
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Of what used to be a halfway decent excuse of a tech website.
Scenario B Extended Edition
6) Crack head identified from ATM security camera
7) Crack head arrested and tossed in jail.
Scenario B Horror Edition
4.33) Crack head shoots your brains out and starts licking your blood in case you were high at the time.
4.66) Crack head steals your jacket.
6) Crack dealer is your daughter and she recognizes the bloody jacket.
6.01) Crack head notices daughter picture in stolen wallet while pulling out the money to pay.
7) Crack head and daughter die in a savage hand-to-teeth to the death. Jacket is saved.
8) Mother wonders who is parked outside the garage and opens it to witness daughter's dying breath.
9) Pet dog runs in and eats daughter's face. (that sometimes really happens to dead owners)
Scenario B Zombie Edition
6) Thief with crack in head decides to get high on you instead crack.
Scenario B Romance Edition
6) Crack head saves you from a falling gutter.
7) You both run off to buy crack together.
Scenario A SciFi Edition
4) You pull another $20 out of your in-pocket replicator the next time you buy milk.
Scenario B 3D Edition
3.5) ATM spits the money out directly at your face.
Clearly all the scenario Bs lead to far more interesting lives. That's why few people use cash.
Scenario C
1) Crack head needs $20 for a hit, ASAP
2) Crack head holds you up for $0
3) Crack head stabs you with a screwdriver
Required reading for internet skeptics
This is why I carry crack with me, instead of cash.