> From: Chris Trask <christrask@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> When I was in Paris in 2000, I was thoroughly amazed when the server at a
> restaurant swiped my credit card on a wireless reader right in front of me.
> I didn't see one of those over here until ten years later, and it was touted
> as being a new miraculous technical innovation.
I lived in Switzerland in the early 1980s, and I was astounded that, upon
opening a bank account, I was issued a card with a chip in it that worked
essentially everywhere! I could insert it to buy groceries, ride public
transportation, even to pay my rent with a private landlord. Credit cards were
almost unheard of; people just used their bank cards.
Here in Canada, we regularly "tap" for just about everything. I went into a
Starbucks for a coffee in the US, and the reader said I could tap, so I tapped
my Canadian credit card. The person working the till said I had to insert it,
even as it began to spit out my receipt. He asked me if I could wait a minute,
then excitedly called co-workers and his manager over to look at my credit
card. None of them had ever seen a "tap" before.
The US is definitely #1 at thinking they are #1.
:::: As long as we live from the oil well and coalfield, we would do well to
pay homage to them rather than take them for granted like spoiled children who
have everything but value nothing. -- David Holmgren
<http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=David+Holmgren> ::::
:::: Jan Steinman, EcoReality Co-op ::::
--
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