Lena’s mind traveled back four years to a chaotic morning rush at her old airport barista job. The queue at the counter had been incredibly long, filled to the brim with stressed, impatient travelers constantly checking their watches. Suddenly, this exact young couple had rushed to the front of the line, looking frantic, disheveled, and completely out of breath.
They slammed their belongings onto the counter, checking their phones with wide, frantic eyes. “Two black coffees and two breakfast sandwiches, please,” the man gasped, his voice tight with panic. “And we need to be incredibly fast; our gate closes in ten minutes.” Lena nodded quickly and rung up the total, but when the man tapped his card against the terminal, a sharp, failing beep echoed through the shop.
“Declined?” he muttered, his face turning pale as he frantically pulled out a second card, then his phone. “No, no, please go through—not today of all days!” The growing line of passengers behind them groaned loudly. They frantically explained to Lena that their banking application was experiencing a major network glitch, leaving them with no way to access their funds right before an international flight. Worst of all, they had zero physical cash on them.