I want her to have what I didn't have

     Back in February I spoke about walking into exam rooms and intuiting that some children had special family support, from both parents or weved siblings who had love to share.  Just last week I entered a room to see a 1 year old girl who was with her father that day.  Many young persons of this age are upset at being in a doctors office given all the shots they have had already, but this little girl was pretty relaxed and it made examining her a lot easier.   After a while it occurred to me that this father was giving his daughter a lot of special attention.  I told him so and added that fathers play such an especially important role in the lives of their daughters. Asked him how it was that was so involved.  Then his story came out.
     His childhood was rough.  His mother left when he was three, and he hung out with his father, and then had a stepmother who was abusive.  Then he said to me: "I want her to have what I didn't have."   I told him he was doing very well and wished him a good day.   It's true: every parent at heart wants their children to have it better than they did.

Credit cards and economic justice

      My girlfriend has an eye for economic justice.  She was buyng some some supplies at a green builder's store in Berkeley, and learned this about credit cards.  For VISA and Mastercard, the merchant pays around 0.5% of each transaction to the acquirer, the bank that forwards the transaction to the cardholder's bank and routes the money back to them from the cardholder's bank.  The cardholder's bank also charges a fee to the acquirer which is passed on the merchant.  Fees can be 2% or more.  If the card is a rewards card, the merchant fees are even higher.  BUT!   If you use a debit card and enter the PIN on a keypad, the charge is much less, because the card-issuing bank is out of the loop.
     So, if you're dealing with a local merchant, a small business for example, use your debit card.  Not only will you lower their expenses, less money will be headed to those nasty banks back east.  And consider where you buy things, too, although Big Box and on-line discounts are tempting: buy local and the taxes stay local.