On the road again this week, I had a funny thought as I walked the hallway toward yet another hotel room. Taking a left out of the elevator, I encountered the ever-present hotel vending machines humming away. Thinking that maybe a candy-bar was in order, I reached into my pocket, only to find a Blackberry, credit card and room key. No change, I thought. No candy bar.

Then it struck me; how come vending machines don’t take credit cards? Everywhere else I go, I can simply swipe my card for a coffee, gasoline, even airline ticket check-in. Yet the vending machine still wants nickels and quarters. About half of the machines you encounter say they accept dollar bills; but they usually spit them out in distaste at the wrinkles. How anachronistic, that someone trying to sell candy bars and Coca Cola, mostly on people’s whims, would make it so hard to capture the consumer.

Just like today’s REALTORS.

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