Yesterday I wanted to send off an order for some stuff from a mail order house that requires that the order be accompanied by a check or money order.**  If one uses a check, the order is not shipped until the check clears, but using a money order ensures that the items will be shipped on the day following receipt of the order.

Having purchased items from this place in the past, I would normally stop at the local 7-11 on my way to work and pick up a money order.  Money orders at the 7-11 cost one dollar.  However, yesterday morning I forgot to buy the money order at the 7-11, so during my lunch hour, I went to a snooty-looking suburban bank near my office, with an eye toward picking up the money order there and sending my order off in the afternoon.

A very pleasant young lady behind the counter asked, “May I help you, sir?”

“Yes, please,” I replied.  “I’d like to buy a money order for three-hundred and twenty dollars, please.”

“Do you have an ATM card, sir?”

“No,” I replied, wondering what the money order-relevance of the answer to that question might be.

“Do you have an account with us, sir?”

Again, I replied, “No, I do not,” as my bank is in the town where I live.  I reached into my pocket and produced $350 in cash, and said, “I would like to buy the money order with cash.”

The teller looked at me as if I were trying to hand her a turd, and, after an uncomfortable pause, said,  “In that case, the cost will be ten dollars.”

Imagine the nerve of me, actually wanting to buy a money order with … well … MONEY?

I smiled, put the money back in my pocket and left the bank.  I stopped off at the 7-11 on my way home and bought the money order for a buck.

Cash is still good at the 7-11.

**  Note to the dirty-minded among you.  This was a G-rated purchase.