Last year, I desperately needed a new charging cable. Now, I could’ve very quickly made my way right over to the Best Buy, but my car had recently broken down and no one was available to give me a lift. Not the most ideal situation to be in, especially when my savings account is begging not to be used right now.
Thankfully I had another way to go about this whole dire situation I had managed to stumble my way into. With some cash in my pocket I strolled to the bookstore, grabbed myself a new cable, paid a few dollars, and walked out all nice and easy. My phone was saved, my savings account was untouched, and my car was still broken down. How would that situation have gone if I had that same issue today?
Well, my charging cable is broken, my car isn’t working, no friends around to give me a lift. No problem! I’ll just walk over to the book sto– I mean the “Ursinus Spirit Store,” and get myself a new cable. Oh, they don’t sell those anymore, and they don’t take cash. So now what? I’m stranded with a nearly dead phone, and a car that doesn’t work. Guess I’ll walk to CVS.
I don’t know about you, but I have spoken to quite a few people about this change to cashless, and there seems to be an almost universal hatred towards the change, people wishing they had a choice between cash and card, others lamenting the loss of the bookstore and Lower Wismer. One person I spoke to wants everything to be free. It seems that everybody has an issue with the cashless change, and the circle of people who like it is growing smaller and smaller with every week.
I get the idea behind cashless systems: they’re quick and efficient, and they make life a lot easier for everyone. But despite all the supposed convenience, this new system keeps causing problems. For me, physical cash operates as a sort of “limiter” on my spending – I can physically see the amount of cash I have left, I can physically see and feel how much I am spending as I watch the stash in my wallet decrease. The physicality of cash all adds up to essentially scare me into saving my money better. With a card, I can’t as easily see the amount being spent, I can’t see, or feel, the amount I have left. Essentially, I’m left with poor impulse control and an urge to make bad financial decisions, with no guideline to suppress it. To make matters worse, now our campus is nothing more than a siren call towards my credit card.
I don’t think there is anyone who would disagree that the campus would be much better if we had cash options again, or if we had a bit more freedom with the means we used to get our things. And while we’re at it, why don’t we also go ahead and bring back the old bookstore? It would be really nice to have some actual options again.
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