I was recently in front of a cashier, I won't mention the establishment, because frankly it doesn't matter, this happens everywhere. The cashier told me that my total was $7.92. Wanting to get rid of some loose change in my pocket, I handed the young man a ten dollar bill, three one dollar bills, a dime, a nickel, and two pennies ($13.17). He handed me back everything but the ten dollar bill, then made change for it, handing me 2 one dollar bills, a nickel, and 3 pennies. If the combination of disbelief and outrage has a face, I was wearing it at that moment.
If you can't figure out why I'm outraged, you're probably a cashier.
So now, I leave the establishment not with the 1 five dollar bill and 1 quarter, as I had so intelligently anticipated, but rather, with 5 one dollar bills, a dime, two nickels, and 5 pennies. I was in such shock I couldn't even muster the courage to ask him to change it for me. I instead left the establishment with my tail between my legs, and one shattered sense of reality. What the hell am I going to use all these coins for? A vending machine? Vending machines haven't taken pennies in 50 years.
This made me think of our public school system, which has now become evident to me is grossly underfunded. This should not happen in this country. This kid should have had a better mathematical upbringing. This kid, it seems, was at least one child that was left behind. And the consequence? Me, walking to my car, contemplating the very existence of life itself, to the soundtrack of the dancing coins in my pocket.
Consequently, if any of you need change for a 5, now is the time to ask.
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