Author Topic: Overheard at Work  (Read 13253617 times)

Jack

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13900 on: July 13, 2016, 09:52:53 AM »
Aldi's for a while never took credit cards.

I'm curious about where someone could possibly live where they have convenient access to only an Aldi's (and not also some other more mainstream, credit-card-accepting grocery).

johnny847

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13901 on: July 13, 2016, 09:58:37 AM »
CoWorker: Well, we had to go out for dinner last night.
Self: You HAD to?
CoWorker: Yeah, we took out ground beef to make burgers, but then I realized we had no buns.
Self: So why not just run to the store and get buns?
CoWorker: Oh, if I used debit it would put us in overdraft and I don't want to pay the fees, but the restaurant takes VISA.

Facepalm & walk away.



It cracks me up that all the reactions are in regards to the buns... and nothing about how that package of buns would cause this family to go into overdraft?
I'm more confused on what grocery store does not take credit cards.

Aldi's for a while never took credit cards.

Still don't, or at least mine didn't as of 3 or so months ago.

They changed their policy four months ago.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/02/no-frills-supermarket-aldi-to-accept-credit-cards.html

MrMoogle

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13902 on: July 13, 2016, 10:23:44 AM »
You can buy buns for less than $2 if you buy the generic crap, more for better quality ones. Does the coworker not have that much cash on his/her person? You could scrounge through your car seats and likely pick up enough right there.
I've basically stopped using cash before I moved into my apartment.  I don't think I could find $2 in there.

mtn

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13903 on: July 13, 2016, 10:50:56 AM »
Aldi's for a while never took credit cards.

I'm curious about where someone could possibly live where they have convenient access to only an Aldi's (and not also some other more mainstream, credit-card-accepting grocery).

Another good point. I feel like 90% of Aldi's are literally right across the street from another grocery store. Or in the town where I went to college, 2 of them were in the same parking lot.

Vertical Mode

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13904 on: July 13, 2016, 11:08:52 AM »
I have one (and I'm ashamed to admit, I had an Anti-Mustachian part in this one).

12 of us from the office were out to lunch last week (longtime colleague left, we had a farewell lunch). Lunch ran us a short $30/person, which isn't as terrible as it could have been but still felt pretty rich to me since I bring mine from home every day.

In one of our sidebar conversations, several colleagues were extolling the virtues of leasing cars (no maintenance! predictable monthly payment! etc.) and all I could do was smile and cringe a little inside when they talked about how relatively inexpensive it is. It's their money and all, but jeez...

TexasRunner

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13905 on: July 13, 2016, 11:40:59 AM »
Posting to get replies.

Lol

You just signed up for a discussion about how black boxes are actually orange.

Sounds like my kind of people!  But aren't black boxes really multiple colors?  Black having every color and all that?  >D
« Last Edit: July 13, 2016, 11:46:59 AM by PriestTheRunner »

johnny847

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13906 on: July 13, 2016, 11:43:24 AM »
Posting to get replies.

Lol

You just signed up for a discussion about how black boxes are actually orange.

Sounds like my kind of people!  But aren't they really multiple colors?  Black having every color and all that?  >D

You're mixing that up. It's white that is the sum of all colors. Black is the absence of color.

Dollar Slice

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13907 on: July 13, 2016, 11:48:03 AM »
Sounds like my kind of people!  But aren't they really multiple colors?  Black having every color and all that?  >D

You're mixing that up. It's white that is the sum of all colors. Black is the absence of color.

Try that with ink or paint and see how it goes! Kids today, thinking everything's made of pixels... ;-)

BDWW

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13908 on: July 13, 2016, 11:48:13 AM »
Posting to get replies.

Lol

You just signed up for a discussion about how black boxes are actually orange.

Sounds like my kind of people!  But aren't they really multiple colors?  Black having every color and all that?  >D

Well it depends on the color space.  It it a subtractive or additive color space? In subtractive, you start with white and remove colors to get to black. In additive you start with black and add color eventually getting to white.

MrMoogle

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13909 on: July 13, 2016, 11:49:54 AM »
Posting to get replies.

Lol

You just signed up for a discussion about how black boxes are actually orange.

Sounds like my kind of people!  But aren't they really multiple colors?  Black having every color and all that?  >D

Well it depends on the color space.  It it a subtractive or additive color space? In subtractive, you start with white and remove colors to get to black. In additive you start with black and add color eventually getting to white.
Paint vs light.

Chris22

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13910 on: July 13, 2016, 11:50:50 AM »
You can buy buns for less than $2 if you buy the generic crap, more for better quality ones. Does the coworker not have that much cash on his/her person? You could scrounge through your car seats and likely pick up enough right there.
I've basically stopped using cash before I moved into my apartment.  I don't think I could find $2 in there.

Ditto.  I was sorta ashamed one time when the ice cream truck came by and I told my daughter I couldn't buy her anything because I had no money.  I then had to explain to her I had plenty of money AT THE BANK, but no paper bills with which to pay the ice cream truck man.  (We do have a few hundred dollars cash stashed away in the fire safe in hundreds for a complete emergency, but the ice cream truck wasn't one even if he could break a hundred).

mtn

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13911 on: July 13, 2016, 11:53:42 AM »
You can buy buns for less than $2 if you buy the generic crap, more for better quality ones. Does the coworker not have that much cash on his/her person? You could scrounge through your car seats and likely pick up enough right there.
I've basically stopped using cash before I moved into my apartment.  I don't think I could find $2 in there.

Ditto.  I was sorta ashamed one time when the ice cream truck came by and I told my daughter I couldn't buy her anything because I had no money.  I then had to explain to her I had plenty of money AT THE BANK, but no paper bills with which to pay the ice cream truck man.  (We do have a few hundred dollars cash stashed away in the fire safe in hundreds for a complete emergency, but the ice cream truck wasn't one even if he could break a hundred).

FYI--might want to put five 1's, one 5, one 10, and 4 20's in there. Just in case another ice cream truck comes, or whatever other reason (mine is when I need to buy a guitar and want to show up with exact change for my offer)

MgoSam

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13912 on: July 13, 2016, 11:56:20 AM »
You can buy buns for less than $2 if you buy the generic crap, more for better quality ones. Does the coworker not have that much cash on his/her person? You could scrounge through your car seats and likely pick up enough right there.
I've basically stopped using cash before I moved into my apartment.  I don't think I could find $2 in there.

Ditto.  I was sorta ashamed one time when the ice cream truck came by and I told my daughter I couldn't buy her anything because I had no money.  I then had to explain to her I had plenty of money AT THE BANK, but no paper bills with which to pay the ice cream truck man.  (We do have a few hundred dollars cash stashed away in the fire safe in hundreds for a complete emergency, but the ice cream truck wasn't one even if he could break a hundred).

FYI--might want to put five 1's, one 5, one 10, and 4 20's in there. Just in case another ice cream truck comes, or whatever other reason (mine is when I need to buy a guitar and want to show up with exact change for my offer)

+1, was about to type something similar. My dad got on my case a few years ago when he saw me paying for something small (like $2) with a credit card, it wasn't the usage of the card but he believes that I should have cash in my wallet for such incidentals. Additionally, as a small business owner, I respect how much credit card fees eat up and so don't mind paying cash for some things. There are times when a merchant may be willing to give you a discount for cash.

Chris22

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13913 on: July 13, 2016, 11:57:13 AM »
You can buy buns for less than $2 if you buy the generic crap, more for better quality ones. Does the coworker not have that much cash on his/her person? You could scrounge through your car seats and likely pick up enough right there.
I've basically stopped using cash before I moved into my apartment.  I don't think I could find $2 in there.

Ditto.  I was sorta ashamed one time when the ice cream truck came by and I told my daughter I couldn't buy her anything because I had no money.  I then had to explain to her I had plenty of money AT THE BANK, but no paper bills with which to pay the ice cream truck man.  (We do have a few hundred dollars cash stashed away in the fire safe in hundreds for a complete emergency, but the ice cream truck wasn't one even if he could break a hundred).

FYI--might want to put five 1's, one 5, one 10, and 4 20's in there. Just in case another ice cream truck comes, or whatever other reason (mine is when I need to buy a guitar and want to show up with exact change for my offer)

Now my daughter has her own piggy bank with $5-10 in change and small bills, she can use that if she wants.  I live 3 minutes from an ATM if I need money, and frankly, having cash around only encourages "poor behavior" like the ice cream truck and ordering delivery pizza and such.  I'm one of those weird ones who thinks carefully before whipping out the plastic, but paper currency goes through my hands like water, so I tend not to carry it.

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13914 on: July 13, 2016, 11:58:40 AM »
You can buy buns for less than $2 if you buy the generic crap, more for better quality ones. Does the coworker not have that much cash on his/her person? You could scrounge through your car seats and likely pick up enough right there.
I've basically stopped using cash before I moved into my apartment.  I don't think I could find $2 in there.

Ditto.  I was sorta ashamed one time when the ice cream truck came by and I told my daughter I couldn't buy her anything because I had no money.  I then had to explain to her I had plenty of money AT THE BANK, but no paper bills with which to pay the ice cream truck man.  (We do have a few hundred dollars cash stashed away in the fire safe in hundreds for a complete emergency, but the ice cream truck wasn't one even if he could break a hundred).

FYI--might want to put five 1's, one 5, one 10, and 4 20's in there. Just in case another ice cream truck comes, or whatever other reason (mine is when I need to buy a guitar and want to show up with exact change for my offer)

It works for other, non ice cream related, emergencies too.  For example, in natural disaster you may need to buy gas or something from someone who cannot change $100.  Then you would be stuck paying the $100.  The old trick of just ripping off bits and pieces of the bill didn't work.

Maybe it's because I live in SF, but I would not be at all surprised if the ice cream truck took credit cards.  All the other food trucks around here use square or similar (including the fancier ice cream trucks)

MrMoogle

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13915 on: July 13, 2016, 12:03:50 PM »
You can buy buns for less than $2 if you buy the generic crap, more for better quality ones. Does the coworker not have that much cash on his/her person? You could scrounge through your car seats and likely pick up enough right there.
I've basically stopped using cash before I moved into my apartment.  I don't think I could find $2 in there.

Ditto.  I was sorta ashamed one time when the ice cream truck came by and I told my daughter I couldn't buy her anything because I had no money.  I then had to explain to her I had plenty of money AT THE BANK, but no paper bills with which to pay the ice cream truck man.  (We do have a few hundred dollars cash stashed away in the fire safe in hundreds for a complete emergency, but the ice cream truck wasn't one even if he could break a hundred).

FYI--might want to put five 1's, one 5, one 10, and 4 20's in there. Just in case another ice cream truck comes, or whatever other reason (mine is when I need to buy a guitar and want to show up with exact change for my offer)

It works for other, non ice cream related, emergencies too.  For example, in natural disaster you may need to buy gas or something from someone who cannot change $100.  Then you would be stuck paying the $100.  The old trick of just ripping off bits and pieces of the bill didn't work.

Maybe it's because I live in SF, but I would not be at all surprised if the ice cream truck took credit cards.  All the other food trucks around here use square or similar (including the fancier ice cream trucks)
Legally 50.1% of a $100 bill is $100, and the rest is worthless. 

I just have a problem with cash, I can't keep hold of it.  I have no problem not spending my CC.

Magilla

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13916 on: July 13, 2016, 12:03:50 PM »
You can buy buns for less than $2 if you buy the generic crap, more for better quality ones. Does the coworker not have that much cash on his/her person? You could scrounge through your car seats and likely pick up enough right there.
I've basically stopped using cash before I moved into my apartment.  I don't think I could find $2 in there.

Ditto.  I was sorta ashamed one time when the ice cream truck came by and I told my daughter I couldn't buy her anything because I had no money.  I then had to explain to her I had plenty of money AT THE BANK, but no paper bills with which to pay the ice cream truck man.  (We do have a few hundred dollars cash stashed away in the fire safe in hundreds for a complete emergency, but the ice cream truck wasn't one even if he could break a hundred).

FYI--might want to put five 1's, one 5, one 10, and 4 20's in there. Just in case another ice cream truck comes, or whatever other reason (mine is when I need to buy a guitar and want to show up with exact change for my offer)

+1, was about to type something similar. My dad got on my case a few years ago when he saw me paying for something small (like $2) with a credit card, it wasn't the usage of the card but he believes that I should have cash in my wallet for such incidentals. Additionally, as a small business owner, I respect how much credit card fees eat up and so don't mind paying cash for some things. There are times when a merchant may be willing to give you a discount for cash.

I think this discussion pops up on here every once in a while.  I'm on the side of never using cash if I can help it.  With CC I can track each purchase and know exactly where it went and for what.  With cash, unless I write something down after each purchase (not realistic), I can only track per cash withdrawal.  Not to mention cash can be lost, I can't dispute a charge, etc.  Plus never having cash stop me from stupid impulse buys, like when it seems every freaking parent at work is selling Girl Scout cookies!!

johnny847

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13917 on: July 13, 2016, 12:12:44 PM »
Posting to get replies.

Lol

You just signed up for a discussion about how black boxes are actually orange.

Sounds like my kind of people!  But aren't they really multiple colors?  Black having every color and all that?  >D

Well it depends on the color space.  It it a subtractive or additive color space? In subtractive, you start with white and remove colors to get to black. In additive you start with black and add color eventually getting to white.

Color space is a man made construction, typically used in a digital context. But MrMoogle gets what I'm talking about.
Paint vs light.

You shine all possible colors of light all into one space, and you get white.

Chris22

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13918 on: July 13, 2016, 12:18:00 PM »
You can buy buns for less than $2 if you buy the generic crap, more for better quality ones. Does the coworker not have that much cash on his/her person? You could scrounge through your car seats and likely pick up enough right there.
I've basically stopped using cash before I moved into my apartment.  I don't think I could find $2 in there.

Ditto.  I was sorta ashamed one time when the ice cream truck came by and I told my daughter I couldn't buy her anything because I had no money.  I then had to explain to her I had plenty of money AT THE BANK, but no paper bills with which to pay the ice cream truck man.  (We do have a few hundred dollars cash stashed away in the fire safe in hundreds for a complete emergency, but the ice cream truck wasn't one even if he could break a hundred).

FYI--might want to put five 1's, one 5, one 10, and 4 20's in there. Just in case another ice cream truck comes, or whatever other reason (mine is when I need to buy a guitar and want to show up with exact change for my offer)

It works for other, non ice cream related, emergencies too.  For example, in natural disaster you may need to buy gas or something from someone who cannot change $100.  Then you would be stuck paying the $100.  The old trick of just ripping off bits and pieces of the bill didn't work.

Seriously?  If in a natural disaster I need to buy gas and the price is $100 because they can't make change I wouldn't hesitate to part with the $100, and never lose sleep over it. 

Dollar Slice

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13919 on: July 13, 2016, 12:29:17 PM »
Maybe it's because I live in SF, but I would not be at all surprised if the ice cream truck took credit cards.  All the other food trucks around here use square or similar (including the fancier ice cream trucks)

I saw a food cart recently that was cash-only, but had an ATM attached to the side. Not the option I would have come up with but I guess it works.

Seriously?  If in a natural disaster I need to buy gas and the price is $100 because they can't make change I wouldn't hesitate to part with the $100, and never lose sleep over it. 

Yeah - but it's about the easiest thing in the world to have $20s instead of one of the $100s, so why not do it?

frugalnacho

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13920 on: July 13, 2016, 12:30:39 PM »
You can buy buns for less than $2 if you buy the generic crap, more for better quality ones. Does the coworker not have that much cash on his/her person? You could scrounge through your car seats and likely pick up enough right there.
I've basically stopped using cash before I moved into my apartment.  I don't think I could find $2 in there.

Ditto.  I was sorta ashamed one time when the ice cream truck came by and I told my daughter I couldn't buy her anything because I had no money.  I then had to explain to her I had plenty of money AT THE BANK, but no paper bills with which to pay the ice cream truck man.  (We do have a few hundred dollars cash stashed away in the fire safe in hundreds for a complete emergency, but the ice cream truck wasn't one even if he could break a hundred).

FYI--might want to put five 1's, one 5, one 10, and 4 20's in there. Just in case another ice cream truck comes, or whatever other reason (mine is when I need to buy a guitar and want to show up with exact change for my offer)

It works for other, non ice cream related, emergencies too.  For example, in natural disaster you may need to buy gas or something from someone who cannot change $100.  Then you would be stuck paying the $100.  The old trick of just ripping off bits and pieces of the bill didn't work.

Seriously?  If in a natural disaster I need to buy gas and the price is $100 because they can't make change I wouldn't hesitate to part with the $100, and never lose sleep over it.

But then what happens when the ice cream truck drives by and you just blew all your cash on gas because you couldn't make change?  #terribledad #saddaughter

MoonShadow

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13921 on: July 13, 2016, 12:31:43 PM »

+1, was about to type something similar. My dad got on my case a few years ago when he saw me paying for something small (like $2) with a credit card, it wasn't the usage of the card but he believes that I should have cash in my wallet for such incidentals. Additionally, as a small business owner, I respect how much credit card fees eat up and so don't mind paying cash for some things. There are times when a merchant may be willing to give you a discount for cash.

Actually, most will.  I've used this trick on many occasions.  The contract that vendors have to agree to with the CC processing companies include a prohibition on advertising a cash discount, so the cost of using a CC is already included into the price of everything.  It wasn't always this way, as I remember a time when it was common for gas stations to have cash & credit prices on their signs.  Using a CC adds about 3% on average, and simply keeping that would double the margin in most retail.

johnny847

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13922 on: July 13, 2016, 12:32:28 PM »
Seriously?  If in a natural disaster I need to buy gas and the price is $100 because they can't make change I wouldn't hesitate to part with the $100, and never lose sleep over it. 

Yeah - but it's about the easiest thing in the world to have $20s instead of one of the $100s, so why not do it?

I've never even managed to get a $100 bill, and not for lack of trying. Definitely withdrawn $100 out of ATMs before and only gotten 5 $20's.

Maybe I'd have better luck with a human cashier in branch, but the lines are usually longer...

frugalnacho

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13923 on: July 13, 2016, 12:34:45 PM »

+1, was about to type something similar. My dad got on my case a few years ago when he saw me paying for something small (like $2) with a credit card, it wasn't the usage of the card but he believes that I should have cash in my wallet for such incidentals. Additionally, as a small business owner, I respect how much credit card fees eat up and so don't mind paying cash for some things. There are times when a merchant may be willing to give you a discount for cash.

Actually, most will.  I've used this trick on many occasions.  The contract that vendors have to agree to with the CC processing companies include a prohibition on advertising a cash discount, so the cost of using a CC is already included into the price of everything.  It wasn't always this way, as I remember a time when it was common for gas stations to have cash & credit prices on their signs.  Using a CC adds about 3% on average, and simply keeping that would double the margin in most retail.

Gas stations do have different prices for CC and cash posted right on their signs.

Chris22

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13924 on: July 13, 2016, 12:36:40 PM »
Yeah - but it's about the easiest thing in the world to have $20s instead of one of the $100s, so why not do it?

Because $20s will slowly float away, raided for this "good reason" and that.  $100s are psychologically harder to break. 

I dunno, I'm not saying it makes sense, I'm saying it works for us :-P

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13925 on: July 13, 2016, 12:37:21 PM »
My dad got on my case a few years ago when he saw me paying for something small (like $2) with a credit card, it wasn't the usage of the card but he believes that I should have cash in my wallet for such incidentals.

I have cash in my wallet for incidentals.  But if I used it every time something came up where I could use a credit card instead, I'd have no more cash in my wallet.  Then I'd have to go to the ATM which is a waste of time

Dollar Slice

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13926 on: July 13, 2016, 12:41:55 PM »
I have the opposite problem with $100s. Since they are hard to spend I tend to give them away.

I've never even managed to get a $100 bill, and not for lack of trying. Definitely withdrawn $100 out of ATMs before and only gotten 5 $20's.

My bank (Chase) has ATMs in some branches that let you choose the bills you want to get - e.g., you could get $100 as three $20s, six $5s, and ten $1s. I love it, since I rarely will spend $20+ in cash; I can get all small bills and have exact change for everything all the time.

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13927 on: July 13, 2016, 12:44:24 PM »

Seriously?  If in a natural disaster I need to buy gas and the price is $100 because they can't make change I wouldn't hesitate to part with the $100, and never lose sleep over it.

So you are fine wasting money in situations where it's easily avoidable?  Ok, if that works for you.  This is the Antimistachian wall of shame and comedy, after all

Chris22

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13928 on: July 13, 2016, 12:45:01 PM »
I have the opposite problem with $100s. Since they are hard to spend I tend to give them away.

I've never even managed to get a $100 bill, and not for lack of trying. Definitely withdrawn $100 out of ATMs before and only gotten 5 $20's.

My bank (Chase) has ATMs in some branches that let you choose the bills you want to get - e.g., you could get $100 as three $20s, six $5s, and ten $1s. I love it, since I rarely will spend $20+ in cash; I can get all small bills and have exact change for everything all the time.

When I was a poor college student I used to know of certain ATMs where I could take out $10 at a time instead of $20.  Came in handy on certain occasions when I was running low at the end of a semester. 

mtn

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13929 on: July 13, 2016, 12:45:53 PM »
Yeah - but it's about the easiest thing in the world to have $20s instead of one of the $100s, so why not do it?

Because $20s will slowly float away, raided for this "good reason" and that.  $100s are psychologically harder to break. 

I dunno, I'm not saying it makes sense, I'm saying it works for us :-P

Yup. Back when I was paid in cash, the smaller the bill, the faster it went. 50's and 100's went to the bank, never to come out (except for that pesky tuition payment). 5's and 10's didn't always even make it to my wallet.

Chris22

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13930 on: July 13, 2016, 12:49:19 PM »

Seriously?  If in a natural disaster I need to buy gas and the price is $100 because they can't make change I wouldn't hesitate to part with the $100, and never lose sleep over it.

So you are fine wasting money in situations where it's easily avoidable?  Ok, if that works for you.  This is the Antimistachian wall of shame and comedy, after all

Let's not call it "situations" like it happens often.  Because it doesn't.  I'm saying the risk that someday I'll have to pay $100 for something that should cost me $50 in an emergency is not going to dissuade me from doing something that works for me, because it's remote.  What is more likely is that I'd have $100 in $20s, and over time we'd fritter that away on ice cream and girl scout cookies and other bullshit, and when the SHTF I'd have $0 because I never replenished the emergency stash.  THAT is a much bigger "risk", to me, than the once in a lifetime where I have to overpay for something in an emergency. 

MrMoogle

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13931 on: July 13, 2016, 12:52:15 PM »

Seriously?  If in a natural disaster I need to buy gas and the price is $100 because they can't make change I wouldn't hesitate to part with the $100, and never lose sleep over it.

So you are fine wasting money in situations where it's easily avoidable?  Ok, if that works for you.  This is the Antimistachian wall of shame and comedy, after all
If it saves me $50/month now, vs the possibility of $100 later, then it makes perfect sense to me.  That's what I'm saving by not keeping small bills.

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13932 on: July 13, 2016, 12:53:12 PM »
Yeah - but it's about the easiest thing in the world to have $20s instead of one of the $100s, so why not do it?

Because $20s will slowly float away, raided for this "good reason" and that.  $100s are psychologically harder to break. 

I dunno, I'm not saying it makes sense, I'm saying it works for us :-P

Yup. Back when I was paid in cash, the smaller the bill, the faster it went. 50's and 100's went to the bank, never to come out (except for that pesky tuition payment). 5's and 10's didn't always even make it to my wallet.

This is all evidence that smaller bills are more useful than larger bills.  If you can't keep your hands off a few $20s in your closet, earmarked for emergencies, I think you need to look deeper than blaming the denomination. 

It does bring up a good question of how much cash you need for emergencies.  Is it so much that you'll need a briefcase for your $20s?  If so, go ahead and have some hundies as well, but I'd still keep a variety of smaller bills around too.  For me, I just have a few hundred dollars max because I'm pretty well stocked for power outages and earthquakes.  I guess I'd need more in the even if extreme civil unrest, like if I had to flee the country id be in trouble

johnny847

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13933 on: July 13, 2016, 12:53:47 PM »
I have the opposite problem with $100s. Since they are hard to spend I tend to give them away.

I've never even managed to get a $100 bill, and not for lack of trying. Definitely withdrawn $100 out of ATMs before and only gotten 5 $20's.

My bank (Chase) has ATMs in some branches that let you choose the bills you want to get - e.g., you could get $100 as three $20s, six $5s, and ten $1s. I love it, since I rarely will spend $20+ in cash; I can get all small bills and have exact change for everything all the time.

When I was a poor college student I used to know of certain ATMs where I could take out $10 at a time instead of $20.  Came in handy on certain occasions when I was running low at the end of a semester.

Oh that's pretty cool. I don't think I've ever been able to get anything less than a $10 bill out of an ATM before.

I do have a Chase account, but I've never withdrawn cash from it. Nor have I used a Chase ATM, they're just not in convenient locations for me (I have an online account (well several) that reimburses ATM fees so I can use whatever ATM I want).

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13934 on: July 13, 2016, 12:58:52 PM »

Seriously?  If in a natural disaster I need to buy gas and the price is $100 because they can't make change I wouldn't hesitate to part with the $100, and never lose sleep over it.

So you are fine wasting money in situations where it's easily avoidable?  Ok, if that works for you.  This is the Antimistachian wall of shame and comedy, after all

Let's not call it "situations" like it happens often.  Because it doesn't.  I'm saying the risk that someday I'll have to pay $100 for something that should cost me $50 in an emergency is not going to dissuade me from doing something that works for me, because it's remote.  What is more likely is that I'd have $100 in $20s, and over time we'd fritter that away on ice cream and girl scout cookies and other bullshit, and when the SHTF I'd have $0 because I never replenished the emergency stash.  THAT is a much bigger "risk", to me, than the once in a lifetime where I have to overpay for something in an emergency.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what we are talking about here.  I thought we were talking about true emergency cash, i.e. Cash set aside for use in life threatening situations.  If you are talking about just keeping some extra cash around the house for any purpose that's different .

Now if we are taking  about emergency cash, there should be no situation in which you would "fritter" any of it away, regardless of denomination.  And since its sole purpose is for use in emergencies, you are extremely likely to run into problems breaking the bills, and that is 100% foreseeable.

So in either case, we are talking about Antimistachian inability for self control or Antimistachian disinterest in minimizing unnecessary expenses.

Edit: if there's an emergency and I properly planned, but for some reason I have to pay $10" for $10 of gas, I would my lose sleep over it either.  But if simple planning could have saved be the $90 by keeping smaller bills around, I would kick myself for that.  And as discussed in this thread, it's actually far more work to obtain the $100 bills than just stash smaller bills readily obtained from ANY ATM
 
« Last Edit: July 13, 2016, 01:01:19 PM by dragoncar »

Chris22

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13935 on: July 13, 2016, 01:01:16 PM »
Yeah - but it's about the easiest thing in the world to have $20s instead of one of the $100s, so why not do it?

Because $20s will slowly float away, raided for this "good reason" and that.  $100s are psychologically harder to break. 

I dunno, I'm not saying it makes sense, I'm saying it works for us :-P

Yup. Back when I was paid in cash, the smaller the bill, the faster it went. 50's and 100's went to the bank, never to come out (except for that pesky tuition payment). 5's and 10's didn't always even make it to my wallet.

This is all evidence that smaller bills are more useful than larger bills.  If you can't keep your hands off a few $20s in your closet, earmarked for emergencies, I think you need to look deeper than blaming the denomination. 

Yup, looked deeper.  Found it was a problem.  Fixed it by keeping larger bills.  Which works for me.  Not sure why you care so much.

Quote
It does bring up a good question of how much cash you need for emergencies.  Is it so much that you'll need a briefcase for your $20s?  If so, go ahead and have some hundies as well, but I'd still keep a variety of smaller bills around too.  For me, I just have a few hundred dollars max because I'm pretty well stocked for power outages and earthquakes.  I guess I'd need more in the even if extreme civil unrest, like if I had to flee the country id be in trouble

Usually sitting on something between $500 and $1k.  I don't ever foresee a situation where I need to "flee the country".  I'm in an area with no real natural disasters.  Worst thing I could think would be some sort of extended snow/ice storm and resulting loss of power for a week or two, and I have resources to overcome that if needed. 

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13936 on: July 13, 2016, 01:03:09 PM »
Yeah - but it's about the easiest thing in the world to have $20s instead of one of the $100s, so why not do it?

Because $20s will slowly float away, raided for this "good reason" and that.  $100s are psychologically harder to break. 

I dunno, I'm not saying it makes sense, I'm saying it works for us :-P

Yup. Back when I was paid in cash, the smaller the bill, the faster it went. 50's and 100's went to the bank, never to come out (except for that pesky tuition payment). 5's and 10's didn't always even make it to my wallet.

This is all evidence that smaller bills are more useful than larger bills.  If you can't keep your hands off a few $20s in your closet, earmarked for emergencies, I think you need to look deeper than blaming the denomination. 

Yup, looked deeper.  Found it was a problem.  Fixed it by keeping larger bills.  Which works for me.  Not sure why you care so much.

Quote
It does bring up a good question of how much cash you need for emergencies.  Is it so much that you'll need a briefcase for your $20s?  If so, go ahead and have some hundies as well, but I'd still keep a variety of smaller bills around too.  For me, I just have a few hundred dollars max because I'm pretty well stocked for power outages and earthquakes.  I guess I'd need more in the even if extreme civil unrest, like if I had to flee the country id be in trouble

Usually sitting on something between $500 and $1k.  I don't ever foresee a situation where I need to "flee the country".  I'm in an area with no real natural disasters.  Worst thing I could think would be some sort of extended snow/ice storm and resulting loss of power for a week or two, and I have resources to overcome that if needed.

"Why do you care so much?"

- internet guy who keeps replying to my posts to argue about it

mtn

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13937 on: July 13, 2016, 01:07:44 PM »

Usually sitting on something between $500 and $1k.  I don't ever foresee a situation where I need to "flee the country".  I'm in an area with no real natural disasters.  Worst thing I could think would be some sort of extended snow/ice storm and resulting loss of power for a week or two, and I have resources to overcome that if needed.

You're in Chicagoland, right? Tornado is the one you need to worry about. But then your cash might be thrown miles away.

Chris22

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13938 on: July 13, 2016, 01:07:59 PM »

Seriously?  If in a natural disaster I need to buy gas and the price is $100 because they can't make change I wouldn't hesitate to part with the $100, and never lose sleep over it.

So you are fine wasting money in situations where it's easily avoidable?  Ok, if that works for you.  This is the Antimistachian wall of shame and comedy, after all

Let's not call it "situations" like it happens often.  Because it doesn't.  I'm saying the risk that someday I'll have to pay $100 for something that should cost me $50 in an emergency is not going to dissuade me from doing something that works for me, because it's remote.  What is more likely is that I'd have $100 in $20s, and over time we'd fritter that away on ice cream and girl scout cookies and other bullshit, and when the SHTF I'd have $0 because I never replenished the emergency stash.  THAT is a much bigger "risk", to me, than the once in a lifetime where I have to overpay for something in an emergency.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what we are talking about here.  I thought we were talking about true emergency cash, i.e. Cash set aside for use in life threatening situations.  If you are talking about just keeping some extra cash around the house for any purpose that's different .

Now if we are taking  about emergency cash, there should be no situation in which you would "fritter" any of it away, regardless of denomination.  And since its sole purpose is for use in emergencies, you are extremely likely to run into problems breaking the bills, and that is 100% foreseeable.

So in either case, we are talking about Antimistachian inability for self control or Antimistachian disinterest in minimizing unnecessary expenses.

Again, I live down the street from my bank, with plenty of money in it.  In my experience, it was all too easy to grab $20 or $40 out of the safe on some random Tuesday because I "needed" it, and then come the weekend I'd go to the bank and take out money to replenish it.  Not exactly the end of the world.  Anti-mustachain?  Probably, but I don't really care.  My solution to fix it was as described, just get bigger bills, and it stops the frittering.


Quote
Edit: if there's an emergency and I properly planned, but for some reason I have to pay $10" for $10 of gas, I would my lose sleep over it either.  But if simple planning could have saved be the $90 by keeping smaller bills around, I would kick myself for that.  And as discussed in this thread, it's actually far more work to obtain the $100 bills than just stash smaller bills readily obtained from ANY ATM

Far more work?  Write check to "cash" hand to teller, ask for hundreds.  Done.  I can do it in the drive through, right next to the drive up ATM.  It is literally no different. 

You do what works for you, I'll keep doing what works for me.  Keeping big bills on hand works for me.  Someday I might get screwed out of $99.  Someday.  Maybe.  Oh well.

Chris22

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13939 on: July 13, 2016, 01:11:17 PM »

Usually sitting on something between $500 and $1k.  I don't ever foresee a situation where I need to "flee the country".  I'm in an area with no real natural disasters.  Worst thing I could think would be some sort of extended snow/ice storm and resulting loss of power for a week or two, and I have resources to overcome that if needed.

You're in Chicagoland, right? Tornado is the one you need to worry about. But then your cash might be thrown miles away.

Most tornado activity is pretty far south of us; I'm about as north as it gets in Cook County.  I've seen several bad snowstorms, very little tornado activity in my 10 years here.

mtn

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13940 on: July 13, 2016, 01:20:01 PM »

Usually sitting on something between $500 and $1k.  I don't ever foresee a situation where I need to "flee the country".  I'm in an area with no real natural disasters.  Worst thing I could think would be some sort of extended snow/ice storm and resulting loss of power for a week or two, and I have resources to overcome that if needed.

You're in Chicagoland, right? Tornado is the one you need to worry about. But then your cash might be thrown miles away.

Most tornado activity is pretty far south of us; I'm about as north as it gets in Cook County.  I've seen several bad snowstorms, very little tornado activity in my 10 years here.

Rare, but not unheard of. We had one touch down about a mile from my parents house in Lake County (early 2000's). 

Then there was this outbreak of tornado's that hit as far north as Lake Zurich and Barrington: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Oak_Lawn_tornado_outbreak

Chris22

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13941 on: July 13, 2016, 01:20:17 PM »
Yeah - but it's about the easiest thing in the world to have $20s instead of one of the $100s, so why not do it?

Because $20s will slowly float away, raided for this "good reason" and that.  $100s are psychologically harder to break. 

I dunno, I'm not saying it makes sense, I'm saying it works for us :-P

Yup. Back when I was paid in cash, the smaller the bill, the faster it went. 50's and 100's went to the bank, never to come out (except for that pesky tuition payment). 5's and 10's didn't always even make it to my wallet.

This is all evidence that smaller bills are more useful than larger bills.  If you can't keep your hands off a few $20s in your closet, earmarked for emergencies, I think you need to look deeper than blaming the denomination. 

Yup, looked deeper.  Found it was a problem.  Fixed it by keeping larger bills.  Which works for me.  Not sure why you care so much.

Quote
It does bring up a good question of how much cash you need for emergencies.  Is it so much that you'll need a briefcase for your $20s?  If so, go ahead and have some hundies as well, but I'd still keep a variety of smaller bills around too.  For me, I just have a few hundred dollars max because I'm pretty well stocked for power outages and earthquakes.  I guess I'd need more in the even if extreme civil unrest, like if I had to flee the country id be in trouble

Usually sitting on something between $500 and $1k.  I don't ever foresee a situation where I need to "flee the country".  I'm in an area with no real natural disasters.  Worst thing I could think would be some sort of extended snow/ice storm and resulting loss of power for a week or two, and I have resources to overcome that if needed.

"Why do you care so much?"

- internet guy who keeps replying to my posts to argue about it

You're the one badgering me about how what works for me doesn't actually work for me.

cube.37

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13942 on: July 13, 2016, 01:44:30 PM »
Yeah - but it's about the easiest thing in the world to have $20s instead of one of the $100s, so why not do it?

Because $20s will slowly float away, raided for this "good reason" and that.  $100s are psychologically harder to break. 

I dunno, I'm not saying it makes sense, I'm saying it works for us :-P

Yup. Back when I was paid in cash, the smaller the bill, the faster it went. 50's and 100's went to the bank, never to come out (except for that pesky tuition payment). 5's and 10's didn't always even make it to my wallet.

This is all evidence that smaller bills are more useful than larger bills.  If you can't keep your hands off a few $20s in your closet, earmarked for emergencies, I think you need to look deeper than blaming the denomination. 

Yup, looked deeper.  Found it was a problem.  Fixed it by keeping larger bills.  Which works for me.  Not sure why you care so much.

Quote
It does bring up a good question of how much cash you need for emergencies.  Is it so much that you'll need a briefcase for your $20s?  If so, go ahead and have some hundies as well, but I'd still keep a variety of smaller bills around too.  For me, I just have a few hundred dollars max because I'm pretty well stocked for power outages and earthquakes.  I guess I'd need more in the even if extreme civil unrest, like if I had to flee the country id be in trouble

Usually sitting on something between $500 and $1k.  I don't ever foresee a situation where I need to "flee the country".  I'm in an area with no real natural disasters.  Worst thing I could think would be some sort of extended snow/ice storm and resulting loss of power for a week or two, and I have resources to overcome that if needed.

"Why do you care so much?"

- internet guy who keeps replying to my posts to argue about it

You're the one badgering me about how what works for me doesn't actually work for me.

Like Chris22 I also have my weaknesses in carrying cash - I tend to use up cash so quickly but am very careful about swiping a card. It doesn't mean i have a fundamental flaw in my thinking...It's just a habit of mine that I fixed with a great solution: not carrying cash...

(which also happens to give my wife and I the great benefit of being able to tell panhandlers that we don't carry any cash. But then we'd be in a pickle if they pulled out square or had venmo)

mtn

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13943 on: July 13, 2016, 01:51:34 PM »
Yeah - but it's about the easiest thing in the world to have $20s instead of one of the $100s, so why not do it?

Because $20s will slowly float away, raided for this "good reason" and that.  $100s are psychologically harder to break. 

I dunno, I'm not saying it makes sense, I'm saying it works for us :-P

Yup. Back when I was paid in cash, the smaller the bill, the faster it went. 50's and 100's went to the bank, never to come out (except for that pesky tuition payment). 5's and 10's didn't always even make it to my wallet.

This is all evidence that smaller bills are more useful than larger bills.  If you can't keep your hands off a few $20s in your closet, earmarked for emergencies, I think you need to look deeper than blaming the denomination. 

Yup, looked deeper.  Found it was a problem.  Fixed it by keeping larger bills.  Which works for me.  Not sure why you care so much.

Quote
It does bring up a good question of how much cash you need for emergencies.  Is it so much that you'll need a briefcase for your $20s?  If so, go ahead and have some hundies as well, but I'd still keep a variety of smaller bills around too.  For me, I just have a few hundred dollars max because I'm pretty well stocked for power outages and earthquakes.  I guess I'd need more in the even if extreme civil unrest, like if I had to flee the country id be in trouble

Usually sitting on something between $500 and $1k.  I don't ever foresee a situation where I need to "flee the country".  I'm in an area with no real natural disasters.  Worst thing I could think would be some sort of extended snow/ice storm and resulting loss of power for a week or two, and I have resources to overcome that if needed.

"Why do you care so much?"

- internet guy who keeps replying to my posts to argue about it

You're the one badgering me about how what works for me doesn't actually work for me.

Like Chris22 I also have my weaknesses in carrying cash - I tend to use up cash so quickly but am very careful about swiping a card. It doesn't mean i have a fundamental flaw in my thinking...It's just a habit of mine that I fixed with a great solution: not carrying cash...

(which also happens to give my wife and I the great benefit of being able to tell panhandlers that we don't carry any cash. But then we'd be in a pickle if they pulled out square or had venmo)

Then they're paying for a cell phone, and probably paying more than me. Nope. That is a luxury that excludes you from getting a handout from me.

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13944 on: July 13, 2016, 01:57:12 PM »
Yeah - but it's about the easiest thing in the world to have $20s instead of one of the $100s, so why not do it?

Because $20s will slowly float away, raided for this "good reason" and that.  $100s are psychologically harder to break. 

I dunno, I'm not saying it makes sense, I'm saying it works for us :-P

Yup. Back when I was paid in cash, the smaller the bill, the faster it went. 50's and 100's went to the bank, never to come out (except for that pesky tuition payment). 5's and 10's didn't always even make it to my wallet.

This is all evidence that smaller bills are more useful than larger bills.  If you can't keep your hands off a few $20s in your closet, earmarked for emergencies, I think you need to look deeper than blaming the denomination. 

Yup, looked deeper.  Found it was a problem.  Fixed it by keeping larger bills.  Which works for me.  Not sure why you care so much.

Quote
It does bring up a good question of how much cash you need for emergencies.  Is it so much that you'll need a briefcase for your $20s?  If so, go ahead and have some hundies as well, but I'd still keep a variety of smaller bills around too.  For me, I just have a few hundred dollars max because I'm pretty well stocked for power outages and earthquakes.  I guess I'd need more in the even if extreme civil unrest, like if I had to flee the country id be in trouble

Usually sitting on something between $500 and $1k.  I don't ever foresee a situation where I need to "flee the country".  I'm in an area with no real natural disasters.  Worst thing I could think would be some sort of extended snow/ice storm and resulting loss of power for a week or two, and I have resources to overcome that if needed.

"Why do you care so much?"

- internet guy who keeps replying to my posts to argue about it

You're the one badgering me about how what works for me doesn't actually work for me.

I think you need to reread this thread if you think I'm some kind of aggressor here

arebelspy

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13945 on: July 13, 2016, 05:24:09 PM »
I think you need to reread this thread if you think I'm some kind of aggressor here

Tell that to the car in your avatar!
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
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mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13946 on: July 13, 2016, 05:48:58 PM »
Co-worker just dramatically announced that she needs a new car.

"My car is about to hit 50,000km and they just fall to pieces after that. I'm going to make some calls today about a new lease."

She is five months into a six-month contract. Apart from the foolishness of the lease, I'd be holding out to find out if I had a job first.

Basenji

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13947 on: July 13, 2016, 08:09:06 PM »
The whole Franklin v. Jackson notes, ice cream truck v. gas to escape zombie attack debate was epic!

johnny847

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13948 on: July 13, 2016, 08:23:40 PM »
I think you need to reread this thread if you think I'm some kind of aggressor here

Tell that to the car in your avatar!

Hey now, cars are an important part of a dragon's diet.

onlykelsey

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #13949 on: July 13, 2016, 08:40:55 PM »
The whole Franklin v. Jackson notes, ice cream truck v. gas to escape zombie attack debate was epic!

Pressing matters! Which team were you on?

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!