Previewing a Cashless Society

 

"We don't accept cash," the monorail ticket lady informed me. "We only take credit and debit cards."

I'm incredulous. I am traveling light without my bulky wallet as I've just completed a political action march from downtown to Seattle Center, and I have only cash. Definitely an inconvenience for me but I'm immediately thrown into a reflection about how millions of people who have no bank accounts, and no plastic cards, will deal with a futuristic society that won't accept cash. 

This sober concern for the future possibly gives me a more dejected look than I realized as I make my way back down the ticket line. A young woman steps in front of me holding up her credit card. 

"Jump in line with me," she says, "I'll pay your fare."

I'm momentarily dazed by the kindness of strangers but manage the presence to join her in line. The ticket lady does not look happy to see me again as if I'm making her life unreasonably difficult. 

Now standing on the monorail platform, I offer my benefactor the cash I owe her. She waves it away. In a generous mood, she's not accepting cash either.

Almost Famous

Zoe Kravitz walking to train platform. 

I have just completed my breakout role in a major Steven Soderbergh movie. The movie titled Kimi stars Zoe Kravitz. 

I was hired as an extra, which can lead to exciting possibilities or to editing extinction. Extras are seemingly assigned to background roles randomly, and I joined the passengers waiting for the train group, or Company Peach. Names of colors were the organizing tool to move large numbers of people in a chaotic setting, much the way kindergarteners have buses designated as the Bluebird or the Goldfinch bus. 

Movie making starts early as even extras are subject to wardrobe, hair and makeup calls. Even though we were told to bring outfit options, a high percentage of us were redesigned anyway by the wardrobe people. I regretted having obediently dragged along a small carry bag with alternative clothing as I was deemed perfectly outfitted on my first try. Everyone, however, passed through the hair and makeup department with no changes and nothing added which left us with several hours to wait patiently for our action time. Normally it would be entertaining to chat with fellow extras during this down time, but covid favors introverts and we were separated by a mandated space that made conversation difficult. The required masks not only discouraged idle conversation, but made it almost impossible to understand all the shouted orders by organizers. Humans are highly adaptive. If our leader waited for us to do something, we formed a line; otherwise, we politely stayed in place.

There were twenty of us in Company Peach; most of those twenty people looked to be well under age forty. There was a dearth of senior citizens in the entire gathering which surprised me. When the mostly young Company Peach was called to action, we headed down to the train station platform. Five of us would board a train car with Zoe, the only movie star involved in the scene. Several more would board adjoining train cars. The rest of us were relegated to milling about as passengers waiting for the next train. As we practiced all the variables of milling about, another woman and I were motioned over to the up-bound escalator. Halfway up the stairs beside us was Zoe, the movie star, waiting to descend.  

At the given signal for action, my new best friend and I are seen going up the escalator as Zoe passes us on her way down to the trains. We repeat this action at least seven times before Zoe gets it right. My companion and I were perfect on the first take.