Here’s My Two Cents, You Jerk

I once had a customer attempt to give me some pennies so I could give them back a whole bill after I’d already counted out their heap of change. My till was already closed, and I’d been instructed not to do such exchanges in that case, so I declined.

Customer: “You just don’t know how to do it, do you? Can’t even do basic math.”

He came back regularly, and every time, he would wait until I’d counted out his change and closed the till and then try to give me a nickel or such to round it out. The whole time, he’d smirk or mutter under his breath about how stupid I was.

I explained the situation to my boss, and he said to go ahead and swap out the coins for a larger bill. The next time the customer came through my line, his change was, of course, a heap of coins. I waited for him to offer me the two pennies to swap out for a dollar bill, but he just smirked at me.

I closed the drawer, and a split second later, he threw two pennies at me. But I was prepared. I whipped out a dollar bill and slid it toward him.

Me: “Here’s your change, sir. Have a nice day.”

The look on his face was priceless. He never came through my line again.