Credit is an important part of our society. Without credit, very few people would own homes, cars, or make important investments for their future, and infrastructure would crumble. We here at Way of the Coffee are entirely behind the concept of credit.

But if the cashier winces after running your card, smiles politely, and says “I’m sorry, your card didn’t go through,” it’s because they’re trying not to announce to everybody else in the café that you’re a bum with no money. You have less than money, you have negative money. So much negative money that nobody will give you more, because you're all set.

Customers get incredibly indignant when their cards are declined. “What do you mean it didn’t go through? Why?” Let me take an educated guess, from years of experience and post-graduate studies. You either maxed out, or your card was reported as lost or stolen so the issuing bank put a hold on it. Either way, telling the cashier to try it again isn’t going to work. The little machine is going to keep telling them that you’re a bum or just plain irresponsible. When you open your wallet to discover you have no money in it, do you close it and reopen it, hoping that it was malfunctioning the first time?

Finally, they give up, and wildly throw their arms in the air, sometimes collapsing on the counter, despondent over their wretched situation in life, sometimes bellowing their anger to the Heavens. No matter what, they turn their anger on the cashier (here barista), as if there were something they could do. You're the bum in this situation, all right? You have no money, and that is your fault. Don't get pissy with me.