‘I’ve seen cash before’: Woman pays for food with $10 bill. Then the worker puts it in her tip jar

In a world where you can pay with a swipe, tap, or even a scan of your palm, it can often feel like cash is becoming increasingly defunct. One woman found this out the hard way when attempting to pay for her gelato using a $10 bill.

In a viral video posted on Monday, TikTok user Constance Fields (@constancefields) talked about how the cashier at a local restaurant couldn’t process her cash payment, assuming it was a tip. As of publication, Bebber’s video has over 360,000 views.

The $10 incident

“Last night I went to an establishment where, after placing my order, I went to pay,” Fields begins her video. She explains that she handed the cashier $10 and some change to pay for her purchase. The cashier thanked her and began putting the money in the tip jar.

“I said, ‘Oh—oh no, no, no, no—that’s to pay,’” Fields recalls. “And she goes ‘OK, uh… thank you.’ And she went to put it in her tip jar again.” After stopping the cashier again, Fields spelled out her intentions to the employee.

“I said, 'No, no, no, no. The total was this, and I’m paying with this $10.' And she goes, ‘Ohhh…’” Fields says. However, the store turned out to be cashless.

“I said, ‘Do you not take cash here?’” Fields recounts. “She goes ‘No, we don’t—I’ve seen cash before, but, um, we don’t take it here.'”

“That exchange was so awkward and so uncomfortable,” she says, wrapping up the video. “I’ll probably think about it all day. And I felt so old, so old.”

“Because what do you mean you’ve seen cash before?” Fields asks in the caption.

Issues with a cashless world

One of the top commenters on Fields’ video shared a similar story.

“Went to a restaurant and paid cash,” they began. “She took the bill and said I don’t have change. Asked her to use card instead and she said I already processed the cash so I need a manager.” They bookended the comment with an eyeroll emoji.

Fields replied with a video from her car.

“I am absolutely loving the discussion in the comments of this video,” she says in the clip. “There’s so many stories that y'all have out there, and I’m just like: ‘Whaaaat?’ This was my first experience, so, I was shocked.” 

Fields notes that she didn’t see a sign outside declaring that the business didn’t allow cash, but she admits that it was late, so she might not have noticed it. She also points out that the cashier looked to be younger, perhaps in her teens.

“I don’t understand how you can say: ‘I don’t accept cash as a currency to pay, but I will take your cash as a tip,’” Fields concludes. “I don’t understand that. So if somebody in the business world can help me understand that, that would be great.”

Have other people experienced this?

“I paid with cash at the Starbucks drive through recently and the girl gave me back my $20 and said my drink was free because she didn't know how to make change,” another commenter recalled. Fields responded to them with three laughing-crying emojis.

“This happened to be at a Halloween party,” someone else said. “I handed her a 20 and she put it in the tip jar then asked for my card! I was like.... the 20 was to pay with and she got MAD AT MEEEE.”

Many people in the comments were torn between humor at the situation and concern for the future.

“Wyd ‘I’ve seen cash before’ like it’s some mythical legend,” one user joked, followed by the laughing-crying emoji.

“Nope! Normalize cash. This is a dangerous slope,” stated another user.

Is everyone really going cashless?

A Pew Research poll from 2022 found that 41% of Americans didn’t use cash to pay throughout their week. 

“Today, roughly four-in-ten Americans (41%) say none of their purchases in a typical week are paid for using cash, up from 29% in 2018 and 24% in 2015,” wrote Pew Research analyst Michelle Faviero. The study also found that most Americans still tried to keep cash on hand, despite the steadily declining number of cash purchases being made.

In a 2023 piece for the New York Times, Gregory Schmidt explores why this shift is sometimes necessary for small businesses. While many businesses made the switch to digital payment as a reaction to COVID, it can often make things faster, more efficient, and open up businesses to a broader customer base.

@constancefields Because what do you mean you’ve seen cash before? #ceeceefields #old #cash #cashless #relatable ♬ original sound - Constance Fields

Essentially, the convenience is difficult to beat. Schmidt does note, however, that some businesses are reluctant to transition entirely, for fear of leaving analog payers behind.

"But experts agree that cash is unlikely to go away," wrote Schmidt. Later, he adds, "And small-business owners say that despite the speed and efficiency that cashless payments offer, cash is still a viable option for their customers."

The Daily Dot reached out to Fields via TikTok and Instagram direct message.

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