Cash, Cracks, and Character

When problems arise, they tend to reveal something.
Not just about the situation, but about the people in it.
Will they help?
Will they get flustered?
Will they rise, or retreat?

I stopped by a local bakery recently.
No internet.
No credit card payments.
Just a quiet sign and a gentle shrug.
Cash only.

At first, I saw it as a glitch.
A failure.
A way to push people into inconvenience.
But then I wondered—maybe it’s intentional.
Maybe it’s a way to train customers to carry cash.
To be prepared.
To move with the rhythm of the unexpected.

And maybe that’s not a bad thing.

Maybe it’s a chance to offer good service in imperfect conditions.
To keep humanity in the transaction.
To remind us that not everything needs to run flawlessly to be meaningful.

It’s easy to think in negatives.
To assume the worst.
But what if we chose to see options instead of obstacles?

Be open-minded.
Be unassuming.
Lead by example.
Be your best self—not because things are perfect, but because they’re not.

That’s where the real grace lives.
In the cracks.
In the cash-only moments.
In the way we respond when the system stutters.