I think it's clear the person you're replying to isn't from the US since they seem unaware of how prevalent even magnetic swiping is in the US (or was when I left before the pandemic, when I visited a few months ago it seems interest in contactless has finally started to catch on).
Also from the US. The last business I encountered that insisted on swiping cards was this past Spring, a toy vendor in a local mall. Contactless is normal, and my issue is I will sometimes want to pay someone a tip that only takes Venmo which I just don’t have nor want to have.
Cash-only is far more prevalent than card swiping, and even that is incredibly rare.
I pay other people with venmo but refuse to accept payment (I'd literally rather just forgive the debt) for exactly that reason. I don't trust paypal, so they do not get access to my account.
I am from the US! Probably living in the Bay Area has influenced my ability to use tap to pay almost everywhere now. Covid definitely accelerated this though.
As for parent claiming my life is “uncomplicated” and “predictable” I won’t say they’re wrong. I have a pretty boring yet comfortable life.
The only thing that has changed in the past couple years is that a few more of the larger gas stations chains have renovated with new chip readers. Most small businesses are switched over.
You can still count on old gas pumps and pay parking kiosks using mag stripes.
US person here, I can do this too, but in a limited fashion. In fact the donut shop in my circuit used to be cash-only but eventually relented because of the pandemic.
