Commercial Bungle

I guess I'm just kind of stuck on my soapbox right now but has anyone noticed the new Visa card commercials. At first, I was just kind of annoyed in general with them. My reaction when I saw the first one was a kind of "are you kidding me?" but now as they make more with the same theme, I am truly getting disgusted with them. They are all a choreographed dance with people buying things and falling into line while twirling and stepping to a catchy kind of swing tune. And then some awful person has the gumption to use cash and throw the entire chorus line off -- since, as we all know, cash takes so much longer than running your Visa through. I have yet to find that to be true by the way.

What really gets me is that the clerk always acts so embarrassed by or for the person in the commercials. It has been my experience that they are usually relieved not to have to deal with computer glitches, etc. I have yet to wave cash under a clerk's nose and have them say, "You'll have to do it again." The Visa machine has that problem all the time, especially in busy places. Ok, checks, yes, I can see the point of the commercial. Visa probably is as fast. But in most grocery stores anymore you have to punch in at least your zip code to verify that it is you. Or you have to sign. So by the time you run it through and do one of those things, I would say they are about equal or that Visa might be slightly faster depending on the bank.

But these seem to be targeted at people who buy with cash (I have only seen one with the black sheep using a check). And that, frankly, is ridiculous. Even at a fast food joint, where they usually only run it through and give you a receipt, cash has always been quicker -- assuming the clerk can add and subtract or uses the computer as a calculator. But I digress (will I ever get rid of the soapbox?). Cash is simply faster and more convenient. I have yet to see anyone peering at a store door wondering if it is accepted. No matter how big or small the place is, I don't have to worry if I have cash in my pocket. And I doubt seriously that any owner in a decent neighborhood would choose the Visa payment if given the choice between the two. So now you see why these irritate me so much. If they want to make a comparison like that, they should at least compare apples to apples so to speak. I'm not against Visa cards. But come on!