Cash is also essential for grease/bribes.
Am I not bribing enough people? I've never had to.
The complication was that it was 1am, new year’s day (NYE night, an hour after midnight), on Union Square in NYC, and it was raining.
Not ideal conditions in the pre-Uber world.
Had I not had $400 in cash to flag down a limo(!) and dissuade him from his scheduled appointment, she would have spent the next 3 hours bleeding either on the subway or on foot as we walked back to Brooklyn.
Another time, I got stopped on the highway to the Cancun airport driving back from Tulum. The cop kept saying something about how he would have to write me a ticket, over and over again. Eventually it clicked, and I asked “is it okay if I just pay the fine here?”
Sometimes, cash saves the fuckin’ day.
Sure, cards are convenient, but you are in effect tipping 15% less for your own convenience.
Additionally, most of the big food delivery apps have a history of skimming or outright stealing in-app tips, so it’s best to always tip delivery drivers in cash, too.
Always tip in cash. It’s the only way to make sure they get all of it, without a portion being skimmed off to pay for bombs to mass murder Afghan kids.
