Cash is not always King by Geoff Ballance

 

An amusing story about what happens when you arrive in Finland, without working credit cards. Written by Geoff Ballance.

Does it ever concern you that we are moving more and more to a cashless society? When my girlfriend (GF) went to Finland this past summer, she landed at the Helsinki airport, collected her luggage and made her way to the train.

Now according to the VR website, you can get to the Helsinki Airport with just one train ticket from anywhere in Finland. From the airport’s railway station, you can easily walk to either of the airport’s terminals without ever needing to go outside. But and this is a big but, the one thing that it not clear, is that while there is a vending machine to get your ticket, the machine only accepts credit cards. Cash is not an option.

Sisu anyone? by Jori Ballance

It was a cool rainy October day, many years ago. I remember taking shelter in an ancient grove of trees in British Columbia. The old giants that had lost their battle with the wind and elements were lying on their side amongst the ferns, soft green moss coated and comforted them and their fallen comrades.

The stillness was broken by the sound of water dripping from Old Man’s Beard into the puddles on either side of the muddy trail. The funky smell of decaying plant matter infused the moist salty sea breeze creating an elixir that involuntarily made a person inhale slowly and deeply. There was a faded, hand-painted sign that was nailed to an enormous fallen Sitka spruce that kindly stated the obvious, ‘We ask that you not use the trail in extreme weather conditions.’