All the McD*nalds in my area have been upgraded with order kiosks. Regardless of all the controversy around self-checkout, and minimum wage, and automation taking our jobs, I personally love them. I can take my sweet time composing my order, I can see the full selection (such as it is), I can see pictures and prices clearly without having to strain my eyes to read 12pt font on the tableau, and I don't have to shout at the cashier to be understood or struggle to hear back. I really believe this is the right way forward.
My only complaint so far has been that the order kiosks only accept card. There is actually a way to pay by cash that the machine never lets you know about - you have to press "cancel" on the keypad when it asks to insert card, and then the screen gives you an order number to give to the human cashier (each store still has one register open) so you can pay in cash. So I still have to wait on line, but at least my order selection is locked in, I can have exact change ready, and there isn't usually a line anyway anymore.
I know all yall Europeans are proud about your nearly total transition to cashless economy or whatever, and you like to boast how not a single euro banknote has graced the inside of your wallet in months. However I personally like cash, and I genuinely believe that a cash payment system is a necessary element of a liberal democracy and secure society. So at least understand my pleasant surprise when I saw these reverse-ATM cashboxes at this restaurant. They work and were being actively used too! (It spat out my dollar coins though, those bastards!) I hope they find their way into more places.
We had a storm recently that caused power and Internet outages across our city for about a week. Many businesses opened up with no power and just accepted cash while writing down sales with a pen and paper. If you didn't have cash on you, you were screwed. None of the ATMs worked. Nobody's credit card machines worked. The banks didn't have power, so they were closed. Going cashless leaves you in a heap of trouble in an emergency.
Only in a society that requires cash. They could have just handed people a meal when the walked up and asked for one. there would be no difference except a few executives don't get their cut.
I always carry cash, probably around $100. Not enough that it would be a problem if I got mugged but plenty if I hit a point where I need something essential (food/fuel) to get home or something. I also keep a $20 in the car for fuel if I somehow forget my wallet and run low.
Granted, I only ever use it in a pinch, might as well get the rewards on my credit card instead. But I do on occasion hit a restaurant/store where their internet is down and it's cash-only.
In Canada less just over a year ago one major telecom provider's network went down completely for a couple days... a bunch of businesses couldn't accept debit or credit, ATMs stopped working, at some places but others running on competitor networks were working. It was still a big annoyance and people got nothing except for sorry! and maybe 20 dollars from carrier at fault (Rogers)