24 June From rain in Park Slope to a picnic in Central Park

I prefer paying with credit cards, but many shops in New York City are cash only. Last night I had a ten dollar bill in my wallet, c'est tout, and here's where it went:

1 dollar (4 quarters) for a pool game with James in New Paltz, NY

1 dollar 50 cents for a bagel and cream cheese in Park Slope, Brooklyn (the apple was free--from James), this morning

3 dollars for a three-berry smoothie (it wasn't photogenic) at a coffee shop

And finally, after getting caught in the rain under a movie theater marquee (I stayed and went to a movie), I crossed Court Street and found a lonely take-out Chinese restaurant, felt like I was walking into a lady's kitchen, as I was possibly the only client she'd seen in hours, and ordered eggplant & broccoli in garlic sauce. She stood up and called to the one man at the back of the kitchen, who stood up, took out a purple Chinese eggplant and proceeded to slice it while she spooned brown rice into a container for me. Then I realized this homemade experience might require cash. In the market next door, standing in front of the plastic ATM hidden behind rows of cereal boxes and tin cans, I had another realization--I hadn't brought a debit card for cash withdrawals. As I re-entered the Chinese take-out, I counted out the dollars in my wallet (there were four, in various shades of overspent green) and held them tightly between two fingers. "How much is my order?" I asked, prepared to either bargain for the meal or abandon it. "Four dollars," came the response, like words from god, or the end of a short story. I sat in the park nearby, chewing on eggplant I knew had been whole not a half hour before, with 50 cents in my wallet and some useless credit cards.