"Cash out"

sounds so simple doesn't it?
With the closure of the last bank in our shopping centre we have been left with one "Automatic Teller Machine". The trouble is that there is nothing "automatic" about it. The machine has to be working.
The Senior Cat needed money yesterday. I needed money yesterday. 
Now I know I could pay for purchases at the supermarket, the greengrocer, and the butcher by card. I know that. I really do know that. But....I object. I object strongly. 
I object because it tells the bank precisely where I spend our money. I object because the supermarket would then keep a precise record of who I am and what I spend my money on.  (No, don't tell me it isn't linked - the manager admitted that they can do it.) 
I am also one of those people who automatically "unsubscribes" from mailing lists kept by stores. If I want to buy something then I will look them - or someone else - up again.
So, yesterday the Senior Cat and I needed some money. I went to the ATM. The ATM was not working. The Prosegur man  had just filled it with money but it was not working. He saw me trying to use it and told me,
    "I'll have another shot at it but I think you had better go to the Post Office." The Post Office is now supposed to be substituting for the bank. 
I went to the Post Office.
     "It's too early in the day Cat. We haven't got any cash."
The person ahead of me had just cleared them out of a thousand dollars. 
     "Try the supermarket. You don't need to buy anything."
No, I don't need to buy anything but they will charge me. Knowing what the Senior Cat needed the money for I knew I had to do it. There was no time to spend an hour pedalling to the bank and back.
I asked at the Information desk in the supermarket. 
Eventually the girl monitoring the self-serve check outs helped me work out how to do what needed to be done.
    "This keeps happening all the time," she told me, "We aren't the bank. Why don't you just use a card for the shopping at least?"
I know. I should. 
But it is because that is what is expected of me that I object. I really do object to people knowing what brand of toothpaste I buy. The supermarket has other means of knowing how much they need to stock. 
I went home feeling hot and cross. It is not a good feel for a cat.