When to Avoid Using A.T.M.’s

L. O. L.

I thought this too at first, but now I think A.T.M.'s is okay in some editorial circles as a plural non-possessive. It's used in many other NYT articles - as is non-possessive G.I.'s.

"...some writers still pluralize initialisms in this way. Some style guides continue to require such apostrophes - perhaps partly to make it clear that the lower case s is only for pluralization and would not appear in the singular form of the word, for some acronyms and abbreviations do include lowercase letters." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronym_and_initialism#Represen...

One of the interesting things IME about those swipe locks is that you don't have to use a credit/debit card, you can use anything with a mag-strip. If you're suspicious about a lock, I suppose you could try using your AAA card, reward card or something else that doesn't have any sensitive info.

Cash will never be obsolete until non-cash purchases can be made anonymous/paper-trailless. The black market is most likely 10%-50% of the market (depending on where you live, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_market#Comparison_with_re...).

I keep some cash for small purchases and tend to use it for local/small retailers/restaurants. I know how much it costs the store when I use plastic.

I also like that my 'balance' visibly goes down when I use cash.

However, I also don't spend often enough that I need to go to an ATM more than perhaps once or twice a month.

I hope cash is never obsolete. Here in Vancouver, Canada there seem to be more retailers hanging out "cash only" signs everyday - independent convenience stores, produce vendors at the public market, restaurants large and small. If I were wealthy I would only use cash, if for no other reason than to negotiate prices on large purchases.