Laugh-in Predicts the Future

Re-posted from my LiveJournal.  I just thought it was an interesting entry and wanted to share it here:

In one such episode of Laugh-in, Rowan & Martin focus on money and the problem with Credit in this country during the 1960's.  The most interesting part was a skit about trying to buy a plane ticket at the airport. The premise being that one day cash will be meaningless.  Set 30 years in the future, Dan Rowan goes up to a counter womanned by Jo Anne Worley and proceeds to ask for a ticket to a destination.  She tells him the price of the ticket, a whopping $400, and he pulls out his wallet to pay cash.  Jo Anne Worley's character balks at the idea and asks for his Credit card instead.  They have a dialog about how he just wants to pay cash and she ends up calling management.  She is incredulous that a person would pay cash for a plane ticket but is reassured by the "management" she can accept that form of payment.  So she hangs up the phone and asks for his Cash Card.  Obviously, much funnier seen than read, but it's important to know the details. 

At the time the skit was written, it was humorous because it was so over the top.  Obviously, there was a kernel of truth in it but the point was to take it to an extreme.  This is how comedy works, after all. One of the more important details of this skit, is when Jo Anne Worley's character says to Dan Rowan's, "Well, I need some form of Identification."  In our modern world, some 30 years after this skit was written and performed, this isn't that ridiculous.  A person could certainly purchase an airline ticket with cash, but they will be scrutinized for fear of the terrorist agenda.  It is much more likely that a person will purchase their ticket using a credit card or, even more likely, a debit card.  (In this case, the idea of a "cash card" is not too different from our modern Debit cards.)  And, of course, identification must always be presented and verified for any flight.  It was kind of eerie to see how accurate this skit has become.  Even more interesting, looking back at the collapse of the housing market and subsequent recession, is to think of the role Credit has played in our current situations and how it was a concern even 30 years ago.