On Sunday I ventured to LA via train to check out the Corporation Food Hall downtown at 724 S. Spring St. It opened last fall. Ordering lunch at South City Fried Chicken, I came across a situation that was brand new to me. As I tried to hand over a 20 and two 1s, the employee said apologetically, “We don’t take cash. We only take cards, sorry.”

They use the Square payment system. (I use the tiny version that connects to a phone to process card payments for my books.) I handed over my credit card and left with just as much cash in my pocket as when I arrived.

Unless I’m forgetting some previous incident, this seems to be the first time my cash was no good somewhere. I don’t know if any of the other half-dozen food vendors at the food hall take greenbacks, as my sandwich and fries were all I needed (for the rest of the day, in fact).

It makes a certain kind of sense: Most of their hip clientele probably routinely pays for everything with plastic, and then there’s no fear of robbery, or the need to run to the bank for a deposit or change. There may be those who don’t have a debit or credit card, for one reason or another, and yet might like a sandwich or cold drink, though.

I still tend to pay with cash for modest purchases. Have you met up with a card-only situation anywhere? How do you feel about it?