Today I was at the deli where I eat lunch almost everyday in the winter with no cash. I rarely use my debit card for small daily purchases, as I experienced debit card fraud last year and like to limit how many people have access to my card number.

Also, the picture on the card is from when I was 18, an age at which I hadn't mastered eyebrow plucking.

I took my food to the counter. I piled it on, because the food is charged by the pound and I anticipated a $5 debit card minimum. The total rang up to just over $5 and I got out my debit card.

"We have $10 minimum," the cashier said.

Who buys a $10 lunch at the deli, especially now?

"That's crazy," I told her. I was not adding on exorbitantly priced pack of gum or beverages to my order. Even then, I wouldn't be at the $10 mark. I asked the woman to hold my food, so I could go to the bank.

I walked outside, shaking my head. I thought it would be nice to abandon the food with her, but that would throw a wrench in my future lunchtime plans. Where else can I get spaghetti with egg whites?

The line at the bank was long. I took my place and silently urged everyone to hurry up. Those people who take forever to step aside drive me nuts. They're the exact same people who buy something small, like a coffee at a street cart, and then take five minutes to rearrange their wallets. The same people who stop in the middle of the sidewalk to massage their bunioned feet and then text someone about said bunioned feet.

The guy in front of me in line was like that. He couldn't get enough of the ATM, stroking its buttons and wiping the screen. I was getting really frustrated until he said the machine wasn't allowing him to withdraw money.

So I waited for the next available ATM. Then this other guy in line asked if I was going to use the available machine, to which I responded, "This guy said it's not allowing withdrawals." I'm so glad he checked, though, because it's totally normal for someone in line to forget he or she is in a line and to get confused and think he or she is actually watching a glorious sunset from a yacht in the Caribbean.

Maybe I shouldn't have been so trusting, but I didn't feel like trying it out for myself. What if it didn't work, and then the person behind me accomplished a task first?

When I got to another machine, it wouldn't read my card. Then it started to beep. And then it gave me some money. It may not have even been from my account. Who knows? It was all very dysfunctional.

I went to the deli and paid for my food, which was lukewarm by then. I sat down with a sigh, glad to finally be eating lunch. The guy across the table from me, two seats over, was moving his lips as he silently read some cheesy mystery book. He'd spilled large brown streams of something on his shirt. Then he started coughing really loudly and wiping his expectoration on his pants.

Tomorrow, I think I might bring lunch from home.