Cash On Delivery. Or whenever.

A friend helped me order a washing machine online on Tuesday afternoon, and King Kong Electronics (would I make that up?) said they would send it COD the next day, no delivery charge. As directed, I called the number in the confirmation email at nine this morning, and they said they'd be here at 10 at the earliest. Another friend chuckled and warned me to settle in for a long wait.

The delivery man rang the bell at 9:55 and wheeled the 50kg box upstairs and into my front entrance. He presented the bill and that is when I remembered.

In my surprise at the early delivery time - I was expecting them to say they'd come in the late afternoon, or even the next day - I forgot to go to the bank. To get money. Cash. On delivery.

It didn't seem worth trying to explain to the guy whose truck was idling outside that I had gone across town to get to a Citibank last night, and that the 24-hour ATM was located on a floor whose elevator closed down at 8 pm. Or that the ATMs at the four convenience stores and two banks within a two-block radius all just spit out my card. He was standing there with my washing machine in a box and an empty envelope to take back to King Kong. So I told him I didn't have enough cash and asked if I could run out to get the money. I was mortified.

"I'll just come back later," he said, smiling. "This afternoon, after lunchtime or so. Be careful moving the machine into place, maybe have someone help you. It's heavy."

He was already heading out when I said, "Are you sure? Is that okay? Really?"

"Sure," he said. "You're not gonna skip town or anything, right?" Then he bowed, waved, and got into the elevator.