Years ago, my father told me I should always have a few bucks tucked away, just in case. You never know when you might need it.
Now, he travelled a lot for his work, so it was a good plan for him. He usually kept a $100 bill tucked away in a corner of his wallet. This was the 1970s. There weren’t a lot of problems you couldn’t solve with $100 in those days. Most places, you could probably find a hotel room and a meal for that and still have money left over.
This was the days before bank machines and debit cards. Even credit cards could be an issue. Some places might take one card, but not others. Cash was king.
I will admit, like many things he told me over the years, I did not always follow his advice. But I have tried in some ways. I don’t always have a $100 bill tucked away. But I usually have a few bucks in cash stuck away somewhere, just in case.
It’s also one of those things they say you should have in case of an emergency. You know. If there’s a big storm, or an earthquake or maybe a zombie apocalypse. Or maybe every ATM in the world suddenly bursts into flames and the internet explodes. Having a little cash on hand can come in handy.
Or like this morning, when part of the internet was having issues and the Interact system was not working. I’m sure it surprised a lot of people, since many of us don’t carry a lot of cash on us these days.
But I was feeling pretty good this morning, since I had a few bucks tucked away. Just in case. I didn’t need it today, but it was still nice to know it was there.
So a thank you to my father for that advice from long ago. Although as I get older, having a little cash around is not the big issue. Now the problem is remembering where I put it.
