She was on her way home to our house near Düsseldorf, when she was forced to take a detour because part of the Autobahn was under construction. It was fairly late (10:30 PM or so), and she needed gas, so she stopped at a gas station which had closed, but was open to automated payments. There was a car with Dutch license plates stopped next to one of the pumps with a frustrated driver standing next to one of the pumps. He was out of gas, but only had €100 bills in cash, and the automated pump only took credit cards. The guy wasn't even Dutch (Moroccan immigrant), but spoke enough English to communicate. He couldn't get home, and was facing spending the night in his car until the gas station opened in the morning. My wife used a card (which she hates) to pay for his gas. He wanted to leave her a €100 bill, even though his gas was only half that. She wouldn't take it, told him she hated credit cards, too, but carried one nonetheless due to the fact that it is ever more frequent that some places do not take cash. She told him to get home safely, and off he went. My wife and I both hate credit cards, and use cash wherever and whenever possible. Unfortunately, it isn't always possible.
She also had a similar situation in reverse in Cape Cod. In one of the small grocery stores in Wellfleet, their electronics had a malfunction, and they couldn't process any credit cards. There was a young mother trying to buy some formula for her baby, all of $5, and she only had a credit card. The cashier told her they couldn't process any credit cards, and the woman began to cry because she had ONLY credit cards, and not a cent of cash. My wife paid for he baby formula, refused to give her an address where she could send the $5b to repay her, and said she could repay her by never again going out like that with no cash whatsoever on her. We all use technology, but some of us try our level best not to be its slave.
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