Leaving Them Penniless

(I am the customer. In Canada, pennies have been phased out. For over two years, businesses have had to round any change to the nearest five cents, so that pennies wouldn’t keep going through circulation. Pennies would obviously still be paid for exactly when paying with debit, credit, or cheques. I make my purchase and the shop owner owes me $5.51)

Owner: “Oh, shoot I’m sorry, hon, I don’t have any pennies to give you.”

Me: “Um, you shouldn’t.”

Owner: “Excuse me?”

Me: “You shouldn’t have pennies… They were phased out over two years ago…”

Owner: “Phased out?”

Me: “Yeah, customers can still pay with pennies if they want, but you aren’t allowed to give them back out. They all have to go back to the bank… ’cause they’re getting rid of pennies.”

Owner: “Oh, yeah?”

Me: “…Yeah.”

Owner: “That’s strange. But now I don’t have a penny to give you.”

Me: “You’re not supposed to give me a penny. Same with if I owed you a penny. I wouldn’t have to give it to you. You’re supposed to round. So if you owed me 53 cents instead of 51, you would have to give me 55 cents back.”

Owner: “Oh, that’s strange.”

Me: “Um, not really.”

Owner: “Weird. I was wondering why I never had any pennies anymore!”