Be The Change You Want To Give

(My fiancé and I are going through a check-out with a small amount of food so I decide to pay with cash, which I have never done at this store before.)

Cashier: “Your total is $12.56.”

(I hand the cashier a $20 bill. He hands it back to me. I think it’s odd, but I don’t say anything, assuming that’s how they handle cash at this location.)

Cashier: “And $7.44 is your change.”

(The cashier hands me the change and I try to hand him the $20 bill, but he doesn’t take it.)

Me: “Sir, the $20?”

Cashier: *genuinely confused* “What?”

Me: “You need to take the $20.00.”

(The cashier just stared at me uncertainly.)

Me: “You handed me the $20 back after I gave it to you and now you have handed me the change too. Please, take the $20.”

(He finally took it but still seemed completely unconvinced.)

Me: *to my fiancé, after we leave* “I really don’t think he believed me. I never had to work so hard to convince someone to take my money before.”

Fiancé: “I don’t think he believed you either, but he will when his register isn’t short that $20 at the end of the night!”