Visitors sue National Park Service over policy prohibiting cash payments

[Jedi Guy]

58. I don't "invariably" spend more because I use debit/credit cards.

With respect, it sounds a little bit like a self-discipline problem that you're extrapolating from yourself to others.

To your example, if there's a $5 minimum for card purchases and all I want is a pack of gum that's $1.50, I don't buy the gum. I'll go to another store where there isn't a $5 minimum. Or, if my car needs gas, I'll buy gas and add the gum. I was going to buy the gas eventually anyway, so I'm not overspending. Simple solutions for a very simple problem.

And no, I can't point you to a specific example of a specific person who got sick and it was confirmed beyond a doubt that the vector for the disease was cash. Which is, of course, why you asked for a specific example: to set up a scenario I can't possibly prove. People get sick all the time and unless contact tracing and such is carried out, it can't be proven where they picked up the pathogen.

However, studies have shown that paper currency routinely carries pathogens such as E. coli, among others, while coins are more hospitable to other pathogens. Here's just one, from the National Library of Medicine.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24571076/