This Makes No Cents
A woman comes up to my register with a couple of items, including some candy for her kids. Everything is normal until it’s time to pay.
Me: “Your total is $7.82.”
She reaches into her handbag, pulls out a fistful of coins, and dumps them on the counter. They are all… completely the wrong kind of coins. Euros, Canadian quarters, a random coin with a hole in it… definitely not American currency!
Me: “…These are foreign coins.”
Customer: “But they’re worth something, right? Just use these.”
Me: “I’m afraid we can only take U.S. currency. These aren’t valid here.”
Customer: “Money is money!”
Me: “It doesn’t work that way. They need to be exchanged first. You need to go to the bank and—”
Customer: “Just Google the exchange rate and do the math. Take a few extra if it makes it easier. Please, it’s for my kids. You don’t want to say no to my kids, do you?”
She makes a pathetic attempt to make her kids look sad, as if I would be the mean old grinch for saying no to them.
Me: “Ma’am, even if we did the math, we can’t accept them. The register doesn’t take foreign coins.”
Customer: “But these are perfectly good coins! They have value!”
Me: “Well then, good news, ma’am. Most of this candy can also be found in that vending machine over there. If they have value, then feel free to buy them from there. If not, then you’ll need to use U.S. currency like everyone else.”
She scoops up her international coin collection, saying, “Sorry, kids, the nasty man says no,” and leaves her items behind.
