A Big Ol’ Bag Of Coins And A Cartful Of Frustration

I live with my boyfriend who owns a coffee shop. People tend to scramble a few 10c or 20c coins to pay for the coffee, so we always have plenty of them laying around. I usually use them to pay for groceries.

I usually go to the same store because they have self-service checkouts so the cashiers don’t have to count the ton of coins I pay with. I always go about one hour before the closing time (because of work), take a shopping cart, pick up €50 to €100 worth of groceries, and pay at the self-service.

It never was an issue until recently. An employee stopped me as I approached the self-service area.

Employee: “You can’t take shopping carts in here.”

Me: “I’m planning to pay with a lot of coins. It would take ages for a cashier to count it.”

Employee: “It doesn’t matter; there isn’t enough space in the self-checkout area for a shopping cart.”

That’s bulls***; you could fit at least four of those carts beside each other, and somehow people with prams and buggies were allowed even if they were taking up a lot of space.

Me: “Whatever.”

I took my cart to the cashier. The shop was closing in about fifteen minutes.

My total was around €100, so I handed her a few money bags with my 10c and 20c coins. They were mixed up and not precounted.

Cashier: “You should really take this to the self-service area.”

Me: “Well, it’s somehow store policy that I’m not allowed over there with a cart, so unfortunately, you’ll have to count all these coins. I’m in no rush, so you can take your time. Thank your colleagues if you want to.”

I left the store twenty minutes past closing time. If I was using the self-service, it would have taken me five minutes.