Hello, friends.

In the past weekend I packed up the entirety of my life into my Ford Taurus (Do not scoff, it has a customized engine and is pretty much the sweetest car ever), gone to one of ten weddings for the summer, and moved back home for the amazingly long period of.....eleven weeks. Thus, the lack of posting. I sincerely apologize.

On another note, I finally saw the first Transformers movie today! I liked it, I never watched the cartoons, so I have nothing to compare it to. I am really looking forward to see revenge of the fallen!

Ok, final random housekeeping note. My manuscript is up to 93,000 words! I am making significant progress. I'm really going to work hard to finish it over the summer so that I can begin the 'friend-editing' process that I already have in place.

So, on to the true topic of the post: Paying with cash in a credit world.

I received my very first question! it is from one of my friends who was nice enough to sit down and actually read this. Her question was, do you ever feel awkward when you pay in cash at the store and then have to put it away? Do you ever feel like people are judging you because you are going too slowly? What is the protocol for this situation?

In answer to her question: Yes, I have felt that way many times.

You walk up to a counter to pay for your miscellaneous objects, which by the time you have finished checking out you feel are completely a waste of your time, money, and embarassment. Let's say you hand the cashier a ten dollar bill. Already, this person has placed you on edge, because the people they place on cashwrap are young high school girls with pigtails that have more colors than a skittles bag and a nose ring that would rival any bull in spain. They gaze at you through droopy eyes that remind you a little of yourself in the pre-coffee stage of the morning, and you silently remind yourself to write a note to the manager suggesting that free espresso shots be made available to all employees.With an amount of disdain equal to that of a royal family member sitting on an unclean park bench, she gives you your change.

Now, this is where the dilemma inevitably falls. You have several options:
1. Put the change away in your wallet properly, taking as long as needed. Yet all the while falling into a strange paraniod belief that every pair of eyes in a five-hundred foot radius is glued to you, and that those same people are judging your whole life based on this simple task, and they have inevitably found you proundly mentally retarded, since you cannot capably put away your change in a decent amount of time.
2. Grab the change and shove it awkwardly in your pocket with your keys and cell phone. In this position it is guaranteed to fall out and scatter over the parking lot when you try to free said keys from your pocket. (If it were just your car keys, there would be no problem, but members of our current society are incapable of owning a keychain without fifty or so 'savings cards' to stores they never visit or use) Sometimes this option can be an even greater source for embarrasment then option 1, because you are reduced to looking like an idiot, chasing pennies that seem to have an endless capacity to keep rolling across the parking lot.
3. This is the option I fall prey to most often. You take your change, wrap the coins in the bills, the bills in the recipt, and put said bundle into your shopping bag. Now the change can be easily retrieved at a later time where there will be no more opportunity for potential embarassment by the throng of people that always seem to be present when something awkward happens.

However, all of this can simply and easily be avoided. Use a credit card!

CV

Send your questions to CharleeVale@post.com

P.S. I started my official myspace page! www.myspace.com/charleevale - friend me!