Remember when you were a kid trying to use a vending machine, and you had to find just the right dollar bill, that never had a single crease or crinkle anywhere on it...and that split second pause just as you put it in, hoping the machine wouldn't spit it back at you?A couple years ago, I was talking to a friend and we both remarked how much the dollar-bill technology with vending machines had improved. Now, you can jam just about any dollar bill in there, and assuming it's not ripped or torn, it'll *take.* Makes perfect sense, right? Customers have money, vendors have wares, and both parties' interests are served when it gets even easier for the customers to part with said money to get said wares.
Maybe this has been around for a while now, but I just noticed the first time I'd seen a vending machine that can take twenties. It spits fives out for change...and what a great convenience for people who have yuppie food stamps from an ATM but no singles to spare.
Just when I got done taking stock of that, I saw dual drive-through lanes. Go capitalism!
We had one in our office park that you could create a credit card account on and tie it to your finger print. Then, you'd just come back, touch the machine, and get whatever you wanted. It even had a "random 10 items" button if you really wanted to blow money that didn't seem real. It must've been experimental because they yanked it in six months.
ReplyDeleteWe just got one in our break room that takes 1s and 5s, but the change is dollar coins. Yay. Also, like anything new, it is made of cheap plastic that started coming apart within the first week, and is lit up like a Christmas tree.
Just make sure if you use a large bill you dont get all change in Sacachewa dollar coins!
ReplyDeleteLove all the Lowell angles!