excellent point! going to a cashless society would have ripple effects like this, and even further down. Having said all this… I LOVE my plastic. I love paying at the pump. I love parking meters that take plastic. I love that every vendor at the farmers' market has a square, or paypal, or other credit card reader slapped on their iDevice. I love it. I am fortunate to have learned a long time ago to live below my means and budget. Because of that, I have the luxury of earning bonus points for using a card. I am grateful for this skill and for this opportunity. but that's my privileged, educated, first-world situation. So many people don't have those luxuries.many of those people have jobs where they're punished for being not being on time.