Greetings fellow blog-readers, this is NOT The Divine Miss Em, but her sub, Nat W., who is filling in whilst Em is manning a folding table in a high school gym or retirement center, somewhere in Somerville for Election Day...

Boston is trying out some 21st-century technology: the next-generation of parking enforcement, the "pay and display" system, and the "pay per space system". They work like this: instead of parking meters at each space, there's a box (like a small ATM) which covers every 5-7 spaces. You go pay for your time at the box. With "pay and display", it gives you a receipt which you must display on your dashboard.
I have used the "pay and display" system in New York City, and Park City, UT (strangely enough), and it is not a royal pain, but I am troubled by the trend of paying with credit cards for everything in America. I keep all my quarters in my car, and I drop by the bank to get rolls of quarters a couple times a year- is that so hard? I thought parking meters were the last bastion of cash-only, but that battlement has fallen to the plastic armies of banking. Americans don't seem to mind having interest rates and annual fees attached to every purchase they make. People appreciate the convenience of credit cards, but isn't the no-charge transactions cash offers even better? With these credit-card parking systems, your bank will literally nickel and dime you to death.