It was a beautiful Friday evening in Texas. The day after Independence day and a cold front had just rolled through the area taking the summer temperatures from a steamy 102 degrees to a very comfortable 75. The wife and I had decided to stay at home for Independence day celebrations because of the holiday falling on a Thursday and with both of us having to work the next day. We decided that we would head to the ballpark on Friday to watch the local Cleburne Railroaders play and view the fireworks display after the game.
We arrived at the park and were greeted with a sign about clear purses and security reminding us of the dangerous times that we live in. I’ve attended hundreds of baseball games in my life and up until recently I never worried about being a target for some estranged lunatic looking for 15 minutes of fame in an otherwise inconspicuous life.
Earlier in the day I had ran to the bank to grab some cash as I always do in situations like these. I grew up in a time where you didn’t have a credit/debit card to rely on if you didn’t have enough money in your pocket. It taught you the lessons of money and knowing what things cost and setting a budget for your night out on the town. It also taught the vendors and store workers the ability to count back correct change and to have something meaningful in your hand.
When we arrived at the ballpark the wife and I walked down the left field line and found seats at the bar on the rail overlooking the field. It was my favorite spot at this ball park. It had a great view of the field and it was right in front of the bar on the left field line. My wife and I picked seats and I headed to the bar for a cold adult beverage after a long and stressful week at work. My wife chose a vodka drink submerged with a bomb pop, which was quite tasty by the way, and I chose a local IPA from Hop and Sting Brewery out of Grapevine, TX. As I reached for my Indianapolis Colts Ridge pocket wallet for cash to pay the bartender she said the most dreadful words on the planet. We don’t accept cash.
At that moment I thought to myself, what would happen if our systems failed and we had to go back to just using cash. Cash is king my father would tell me growing up in rural Indiana. My parents never had a debit/credit card while I was growing up. My father would always carry around a $1,000 and one day I asked him why. His answer was quite simple. “Son I may want to buy something and I don’t know how much money I will need.” It sounded simple at the time. It in fact was a much simpler time.
On a bill of currency, be it a $100, $50, $20, $10, $5 or $1 dollar bill it specifically states “This note is for legal tender for all debts, public and private.” Why have companies went away from accepting cash? Would it be over complicated to keep spare change on hand when dealing with the public? The question that always comes to my mind is that the younger generation can no longer count back the proper change you need in a transaction.
As I stood there at the ballpark enjoying the amazing night of baseball and fireworks I thought to myself. Is this the future of a country that defied all odds to become the number 1 superpower in the world because they believed in personal responsibility, freedom and independence? What would the founding fathers think about where we were as a country?
As I stood there contemplating it all the National Anthem ended and the two greatest words in the English language followed.
“Play ball!”
Matt Locke is the host of the daily podcast “Voice of the Working Man” which you can listen to where all podcasts can be found. He has been a national syndicated Radio and Television host for the past 12 years.