Frank McNamara and Ralph Schneider were having a great lunch meeting at Major's Cabin Grill, a busy diner right next door to the Empire State Building.
My first account in high school circa 1996 came with a debit card. I didn't use a credit card until many years later... probably 2009 when my bank was offering 4.5% cashback on everything. It only made sense to use it. Also, credit cards end up having better fraud protection than debit for some reason.
Anyhow, the main thing is I've never carried a balance forward or paid interest on a credit card.
I did once! But ever since I paid off all my cards, maybe in 2008 or so, I have never looked back, and just pay the balance right then and there. I also predominantly use credit since fraud protection is way easier.
I've been cash-free for years now. Denmark makes it very easy to use your credit card, smartphone, or smart watch everywhere, which is more than I can say for Germany. Whenever we visit Hamburg, I'm always surprised by how many places, including public train stations, insist on having cash still.
I last traveled internationally to Italy in 2018 or so. I was surprised at how many places accepted cash (well, maybe not "surprised" since I was warned, but it was still off-putting). What's up with the Holy Roman Empire using antiquated payment means?!?
My first credit card was for Sears. I got it before driving across country from DE to NW Montana in 1986 - in case I had car trouble. I could find my way to the nearest Sears auto center.
Yes! That was a helluva journey in 1986, too. That "dark era" before even Mapquest meant that you had better be comfortable walking up to strangers and asking them questions. I think folks don't realize how much more possible it is today to be isolated (as compared to back then).
Oh, man, this brought back a rush of memories. LOL! Diversions through the Black Hills, Badlands, cheap hotel at Wall, SD. Made a collect call to my parents from a teepee-shaped rest area just to hear another person's voice, it had been so long since I'd seen another car. I told them I wanted to make sure I hadn't missed The Rapture. Heh. Nearly ran out of gas on the way back...Had the wrong kind of traveler's checks for that one-bank town. Had to double back for an hour to the prior town. A call from the first bank manager to the second, they kept that bank open for me past their 6pm closing time. I was on fumes and out of cash. I'd write up a flash memoir about it but it would just be "this happened, then that happened", no deep themes. Just a 20-something on a major lone roadtrip. Best of times.
100% true. The trade-off is that we've given up even more of our physical-world problem-solving, leaving our hunter-gatherer ancestors even further behind! They were remarkable in so many ways.
I was in college in the early 1980s and it was hard to get a credit card. My first card was a Mobil gas card because I was told they gave them to everyone. Then Montgomery Ward gave me one because I had a Mobil card. I think I got my first Mastercard when I was making good money as an intern. Back in the day it was hard to get credit.
Very hard! It was still pretty hard in the 90s, but by the mid-2000s, it was like a credit bonanza. 2008 did a little to slow that process down, but just a little.
Fun story and memory of days before credit cards. It's intriguing to think of what is that embarrassing moment today that's looking for a solution. We have all these gargantuan crises clamoring for innovation but what's today's version of a forgotten wallet?
My first account in high school circa 1996 came with a debit card. I didn't use a credit card until many years later... probably 2009 when my bank was offering 4.5% cashback on everything. It only made sense to use it. Also, credit cards end up having better fraud protection than debit for some reason.
Anyhow, the main thing is I've never carried a balance forward or paid interest on a credit card.
I did once! But ever since I paid off all my cards, maybe in 2008 or so, I have never looked back, and just pay the balance right then and there. I also predominantly use credit since fraud protection is way easier.
I've been cash-free for years now. Denmark makes it very easy to use your credit card, smartphone, or smart watch everywhere, which is more than I can say for Germany. Whenever we visit Hamburg, I'm always surprised by how many places, including public train stations, insist on having cash still.
I last traveled internationally to Italy in 2018 or so. I was surprised at how many places accepted cash (well, maybe not "surprised" since I was warned, but it was still off-putting). What's up with the Holy Roman Empire using antiquated payment means?!?
You've heard the saying "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Did you think they were talking about the modern Romans?!
We definitely said "when in Rome..." a lot while we were visiting Florence.
My first credit card was for Sears. I got it before driving across country from DE to NW Montana in 1986 - in case I had car trouble. I could find my way to the nearest Sears auto center.
Yes! That was a helluva journey in 1986, too. That "dark era" before even Mapquest meant that you had better be comfortable walking up to strangers and asking them questions. I think folks don't realize how much more possible it is today to be isolated (as compared to back then).
Oh, man, this brought back a rush of memories. LOL! Diversions through the Black Hills, Badlands, cheap hotel at Wall, SD. Made a collect call to my parents from a teepee-shaped rest area just to hear another person's voice, it had been so long since I'd seen another car. I told them I wanted to make sure I hadn't missed The Rapture. Heh. Nearly ran out of gas on the way back...Had the wrong kind of traveler's checks for that one-bank town. Had to double back for an hour to the prior town. A call from the first bank manager to the second, they kept that bank open for me past their 6pm closing time. I was on fumes and out of cash. I'd write up a flash memoir about it but it would just be "this happened, then that happened", no deep themes. Just a 20-something on a major lone roadtrip. Best of times.
If nothing else, it REALLY reinforces the idea of how easy we have it today.
It was all so much more of an adventure back then!
100% true. The trade-off is that we've given up even more of our physical-world problem-solving, leaving our hunter-gatherer ancestors even further behind! They were remarkable in so many ways.
I was in college in the early 1980s and it was hard to get a credit card. My first card was a Mobil gas card because I was told they gave them to everyone. Then Montgomery Ward gave me one because I had a Mobil card. I think I got my first Mastercard when I was making good money as an intern. Back in the day it was hard to get credit.
Very hard! It was still pretty hard in the 90s, but by the mid-2000s, it was like a credit bonanza. 2008 did a little to slow that process down, but just a little.
Fun story and memory of days before credit cards. It's intriguing to think of what is that embarrassing moment today that's looking for a solution. We have all these gargantuan crises clamoring for innovation but what's today's version of a forgotten wallet?
Forgotten passwords!
true!