Feb 13, 2018 4 min read

Over the holidays, we had lunch at one of our local restaurants and were fortunate to have our favorite waitress as a server. Later, when we went to the register, we handed her a restaurant gift card, which, when processed, left us with a remaining bill of $3.47.

I handed her my credit card, and she immediately waved it off.

“My dad always told me never to use a credit card unless it’s absolutely necessary,” she laughed. Then she dug into her apron for tip money, and put her own $3.47 into the register.

I protested, but she said we were always good customers and insisted on paying the bill, punctuating her monetary gift with “Merry Christmas.”

I thanked her profusely. But, at the gentle urging of my wife (i.e., an elbow into the rib), I didn’t tell her what I really thought of her father’s take on credit cards. Of course, I also knew my father, my wife’s father, and probably the fathers of most of the people in the restaurant would have had the same opinion as the waitress’s dad about using plastic to pay small bills.

That was then, this is now.

Today, many people pay for everything with a credit card. It’s convenient, it keeps track of expenses, and it builds bonus points offered by most credit card companies. Our Disney credit card, for instance, helps fund our visits to Mickey Mouse’s assorted parks.

So whether I’m getting new tires, buying groceries or just picking up a cup of coffee at a fast food restaurant, I use my credit card.

That’s the primary reason I’m irritated when I pull into a parking lot with coin-only meters. I don’t mind paying to park, but I do mind scrambling around trying to find quarters, or worse yet, trying to get change from a nearby establishment, hoping that the dreaded meter person doesn’t spy my free-loading car in the meantime.

In many cities, parking meters now accept credit cards. It’s time for Canonsburg to do the same.

Of course, the subject of parking meters has always been a sore spot with community officials, so bringing up the topic – even to simply switch from cash to credit card – is difficult.

So let’s clear up a few misconceptions:

1. People don’t shop in towns with metered parking because they can park free of charge in malls and big-box shopping areas. Not true. People don’t shop in many towns because there’s no reason to shop there. Towns that focus on specialty shops with out-of-the-ordinary merchandise, one-of-a-kind restaurants or special attractions have no problem filling their parking lots.

2. Malls and big-box areas offer free parking. Not true. Parking lot costs – paving, plowing, lining, lighting and other maintenance – is passed on through the price of merchandise.

3. Parking in towns should be free. Not true. If the limited number of parking spaces in towns were available at no cost, the lots would be filled with vehicles owned by people who rent downtown apartments or people who live on crowded streets nearby, as well as by employees of businesses. Paid parking opens spots for customers. And, of course, it provides funding for maintaining the lots as well.

4. People despise paid parking. Not true. People despise having to find proper change for the meters. Which brings us full circle.

But that quarter quandary issue can be solved rather easily by providing meters that accept credit cards, or by installing gated parking machines that accept credit cards. Certainly, parking fees may increase with the technology upgrade. But if 20th-century life was all about cost control, the 21st-century mindset is all about convenience. Just ask Amazon.

It likes credit cards, too.