She Wants You To Round Waaaaay Down  

(I work at a retail chain as a cashier. A woman buys a few things and we have a pleasant transaction. A few minutes later, she gets back in line to buy a bottle of water. They’re 99¢, but after tax, they’re $1.12. As I’m finishing up with the customer ahead of her, she asks me how much the water costs.)

Me: “After tax, it’ll be $1.10.”

(Canada doesn’t use pennies, so $1.12 rounds down to $1.10.)

Customer: “Oh, I don’t want to break this toonie…”

(Meaning she doesn’t want to get back 90¢ worth of change, which would consist of at least five coins instead of a tidy loonie.)

Me: *thinking that means she’s decided against buying it* “Oh, okay. Sorry about that!”

Customer: “No, I’m still getting it. Just give it to me for a dollar.”

Me: *taken aback by her presumption* “I can’t.”

Customer: *suddenly angry* “Fine! My God, only ten cents’ difference!”

(My present customer is almost finished by now; the PIN pad is just processing her payment. The woman buying the water bottle apparently doesn’t realize it’s not her turn yet, and gets angry that I’m not scanning her water bottle.)

Customer: “Well, go ahead!”

Me: *gesturing towards the customer ahead of her* “I’m still on this transaction.”

Customer: “Ugh!”

(She was very grumpy for the rest of the transaction. I know it’s frustrating to have to deal with a bunch of change instead of a single coin, but please don’t be rude to people over it!)