This is One thinga column with advice on how to live.
In early April, I took my daughter to see Olivia Rodrigo at Madison Square Garden. The tickets were her Christmas present, and we had been counting the weeks and days until the show. There was just one challenge I hadn’t anticipated: how to get home. For reasons not relevant to this piece, we would have to take a car home, no subway. So after the concert ended at 10:30pm, I ordered an Uber. The app told me it would take 30 minutes to arrive thanks to the crowd and moms who also needed rides home.
Finally We could wait. We stood on Seventh Avenue and tracked our car. But as I approached the scene, I got a notification that my ride was starting… then it disappeared. Someone had gotten into my car and put me in the car. We were drunk!
Just a few minutes later, a yellow taxi with no lights on pulled up. I knew what that meant: The driver was off duty, but potentially willing to pick us up. “Where are you going?” he asked. “Brooklyn.” “Do you have money?” “Yes,” I said. “How much?” “I have 40 lek”, I told him. He waved at us. We were on our way home. I’m not writing this when I say that my daughter told me, “Good thing you always carry money!”
She was right, and it’s true: I always carry money, and you should too. My recommendation is $40 to $60. Having money with me is in my DNA. I grew up with parents who got a check every week for spending money they would have on hand, which kept them in their budget and with zero debt (really impressive).
Today more and more people are choosing to forget about keeping paper bills. But I still prefer to pay cash for smaller purchases. If I go into the bodega for milk and watermelon gum, it’s four dollars. Why use a card for this? The nail salon down the road gives a 10 percent discount if you pay in cash. (Don’t worry: I tip 20 percent on the non-deductible amount.) My mechanic is also a cash-only business; I usually have enough on hand to pay for my inspection or an oil change.
My last reason: If Showtime dancers show up in my subway car, I always tip them. I don’t give money to all the subway performers, but I really appreciate the guys who do gymnastics in a moving train car and manage to get almost everyone clapping and smiling at the end of the workday. It’s the kind of New York moment we don’t get that often, when a group of strangers randomly come together around their appreciation of something very New York. I guess you can actually Venmo the dancers now, but I prefer to throw my five in a young man’s baseball cap after his flip.
After all, I have cash.
#practice #common #saved #butt #easy #implement
Image Source : slate.com
