My cousin’s cousin is in town again this week from Montreal, so I’m meeting him for dinner on Wednesday night before Chris and I leave for Banff and Calgary. He was interested in eating at a certain restaurant downtown, but I immediately vetoed it when I saw the high number of reviews for the mediocre ratings on Yelp, and then the real kicker came: when I saw they only take cash or AmEx. American Express is the only option for credit cards — really? Who the hell does this place think it is?

Last week for the first time, I ate at a restaurant that only accepted credit cards. I get that — that completely makes sense given that fewer people today carry wads of cash with them, and it protects businesses from theft. But to only accept an expensive credit card like American Express is just ridiculous and unacceptable to me. There are endless restaurants in this city to try, and we’re definitely not missing out on anything by not going there.