Cash is Queen

What’s up with the I’m Awesome stickers that I hand out at the farmers’ markets?

Number 1: whether or not you get a sticker and whether or not you choose to buy anything at my booth, you are awesome. I know it, I hope you know it, and I trust a lot of other people know it.

Number 2: I’m deeply grateful to anyone who stops by and makes a purchase. If you collectively decided to stop doing that, I’d be out of a job. Sort of. I’m sure I’d keep Fermenting for the Food Pantries even if the income generating part of this gig went ca-put, but a great deal of other components would change and that would be a bummer. I’m grateful and You’re Awesome.

Number 3: So then, what’s with the stickers? Why are some visitors to my table designated as awesome where others might not get an I’m Awesome sticker? Fair question. I started handing out the I’m Awesome stickers this year as a way to ESPECIALLY thank folks who stop by, make a purchase AND pay cash in exact change. If you’ve never had a retail business or worked at a farmers’ market, you might not fully appreciate the epic awesomeness of cash payments in exact change at the market.

Here’s the quick and dirty run down of why this is particularly awesome:

• There are no additional fees connected to our transaction when you pay cash, so we at VFA receive the full value of your cash payment, where Venmo and PayPal charge fees with each transaction.
• Not having to make change allows our transaction to move forward more smoothly, and, yep, sometimes we are blessed with a line at the market. Completing our transaction a little quicker can make a difference to that 3rd or 4th person in line who is waiting. In. The. Sun. For. A. Simple. Freaking. Kombucha!
• The additional fireworks exploding, heart emojis everywhere, smiles all around, awesome benefit of your payment in exact change is that sometimes, it gets a little dicey at the market in terms of small bills. This used to happen a lot at a market that shall remain nameless. Remember, before COVID, when the whole farmers’ market thing was a breeze….. Welp, if you are one of those wonderful and beloved folks that would show up at 9am, get one $3 cup of kombucha, and pay with a $20 spot, I forgive you. And yes, this could happen multiple times per day, and when it did, the $1s and the $5s in my cash can would all float away. Thankfully, most of us have had this happen at the market, and we are generally a friendly and sympathetic bunch. I could usually get change from another vendor in order to make it through the day.

This reminds me that I need to consider another sticker: “I’m Awesome. I paid cash in $1 bills at VFA today.” There’s a few of you out there who have been this particular level of awesome, and, well, I love you. As awesome as cash in exact change is, cash in a mountain of $1s is just all the more awesome. What would that be in adverbs? I’m Stellar? I’m Cosmic? I’m Unbelievably Amazing?

If you’ve made it to the end of this silly post, you are all those things and more. I look forward to seeing you sometime with your empty pockets, cash, check, Venmo or PayPal. Always feel welcome to stop by and say hey, and remember, You’re Really Freaking Awesome.