Cashless trip got me denied at a food truck in Austin last weekend

I went to a food truck festival in Austin last Saturday and only brought my phone and cards. One truck had a sign saying cash only because their card reader was broken. I had to borrow $12 from a stranger to pay for my tacos. It made me realize that going fully digital means you're stuck if the tech fails. Has anyone else run into a situation where you needed cash and didn't have it?

3 comments

3 Comments

price.ray6d ago

Keep a $20 in your phone case too. But @park.miles, that snow cone guy probably laughed because smartwatch payments aren't actually supported at most fair stands, not because you looked desperate. The real trick is just having one backup bill stashed somewhere.

jakeb815d ago

Broke my phone once and couldn't get into my banking app to transfer money to a friend who spotted me for lunch. Had to wait three days for a replacement phone just to pay them back. Now I keep a $50 hidden in a book on my nightstand. Old school but it works.

park.miles6d ago

Borrowing money from a stranger for tacos sounds like a scene from a buddy comedy where I'm the pathetic main character. Honestly, I've been there too. I once tried to pay for a snow cone with my smartwatch at a county fair and the guy just laughed at me. Now I keep a crumpled $20 bill in my phone case for emergency situations like this. It feels like we're just one broken card reader away from becoming digital hitchhikers.