Does this look like a Tesco Store?

 30% headed out for a wicker weaving course this morning, leaving me home alone.

My reserve of bottled honey was running low, so I spent most of my day processing a couple of batches to keep my little road-side stall supplied.

Let's just ponder on that last sentence, particularly the words "road-side stall." What do those three little words conjure up in your mind?  A large out of town supermarket, with a huge car park, and associated petrol station and cafeteria?  No, road-side stall doesn't suggest that to me either. 

Let's ensure we are all on the same page. My road-side stall is a little wooden stand. It is about 2' high and has a flat surface about 18" by 12". On it is placed a clear, lidded, plastic box. The box usually contains four jars of honey plus an empty jar that has two pound coins in it ... change. There is also a little slate sign that indicates the product and the price.

It's very much a serve yourself, honesty box sort of arrangement. It is not part of a multinational grocery conglomerate that will cater for most of your nutritional needs.

So why on earth does it seem to attract a regular stream of people who ask whether I accept Apple Pay, or have a QR code that they can scan to pay so that they can "do contactless."?  My honey is four quid a jar and I even leave a couple of quid in the box so people only need to bring along a fiver or a tenner to make their purchase.

Today I had a chap turn up in a van and he was quite insistent that I allowed him to buy honey and pay without using cash.  I pointed out that it was cash only, and he responded by listing a list of alternative cashless payment methods. He then went on to ask if I offered a discount if he bought three jars.

I politely pointed out that I didn't offer a discount as my supply was limited, and that demand for my honey often exceeded what my three hives could produce. I eventually conceded to accept payment by Paypal, and gave him my email address. 

He decided to purchase a couple of jars for his mum, paid and showed me his phone screen to demonstrate that the payment had been made.

I wandered inside and my phone alerted me to an incoming email. It was Paypal informing me that the £8 had been received and that they had deducted 53p for using their electronic payment facility.

And people wonder why I only accept cash!