cash is king, only if you have it

ho hum birdies,

after writing 2199 words of bullshit for my methodology essay, i'm tempted to throw everything away and start again.

.uhm.

please forgive me for that sudden burst of insanity; it's just writing about grounded theory, hermeneutics and bricoleur's process of bricolage, i really need to just think S-T-U-P-I-D for a moment.

the story this week is, actually it happened at a STAR mart (equiv of 7-11's in KL). Waiting in line to pay for my snicker bars (2 MegaSize bars for NZD3) and there's a Auckland Grammar student in front of me (no more than 15 years old) and probably a working graduate in front. the line took 2 minutes and then zip i was there. whoa hold on .. what happened? the graduate couldn't pay for his drink because his EFTPOS card was declined (it means you have no money in the bank) the student couldn't pay for her chocs too because her EFTPOS card was declined as well (refer to top). me? i paid with cash; smirking and smiling as i passed the dude and student with my MEGASIZE snickers. $3 is not a lot; ask any malaysian motorist, they have at least RM10 in their coin box in the car, so why can't a working man pay $2.95 for his milkshake and why can't a student pay $3 for 2 megasize bars?

the answer is simple. in NZ, cash is not king, EFTPOS is. a little education in EFTPOS, it means Electronic Funds Transfer Point Of Sale, nope it's not a credit card and yes it's a debit card. whcih means a swipe is like taking cash from the bank. malaysia did try to implement a EFTPOS system but you know us ASIANS love the smell of cold hard cash, the feel, the texture plus with the high rate of card frauds; we gave it a miss. unless you're a student, EFTPOS transactions come with a price. 50cents per transaction.

.wow.

back to the dude; now he obviously thought that he had cash in his account to at least buy a milkshake. maybe he forgot his meal at mcdonalds,the movie he went during lunch, the pack of fags he bought from the dairy, the bus ride to the city, the brekkie he had at the junction. wait 5+5+5+5 = $2.50. heh. doesn't take a genius to figure out where his money went.

and the student? who knows? probably overspent it on something else. i know i might be a miser but i'd rather be drinking a milkshake than paying the bank transaction fee.

have you tried studio 8 by macromedia?