February 25, 2008
Lisa: tender mercies
Why are cashiers trained to give you your change with the dollar bills on the bottom and the coins balanced precariously on top? Why? This may seem like a convenient setup for the person offering the change (all parts visible and in one hand), but for the recipient it's a disaster waiting to happen. The customer must grasp the end of the offered dollar bill without touching the hand of the cashier, and then hope they've grabbed enough of the limp paper to maintain the slightly curved structure that will support the much heavier coins. If the customer is in a car at the drive through, then they must carefully navigate the bills and their coin payload (which they must only guess at the presence and exact location of, since the drive-up window is six inches above the customer's head) carefully down through the car window without tilting it too much to one side, thus allowing the coins to slip off their perch and tumble down under the car, never to be seen again. If this happens (heaven forbid), the drive-through attendant invariably looks down at the ground between the building and the car and says "Oh." They do not offer to replace your lost coins.
HOW DO WE CORRECT THIS TRAVESTY, you cry? I am happy to report there is a simple and painless solution. After removing your change from the till, cashiers should:
1) drop coins directly into your palm, then
2) offer paper bills.
See? It's actually faster for the cashier because she doesn't have to combine the coins and bills (which she had to grab from separate little bins) into a stack before handing them to you. Everybody's happy.
Posted by lisa at February 25, 2008 07:51 PMThat drives me INSANE. Plus when you're on the cashier end, it's always embarrassing when the money goes everywhere. For the record, when I was a cashier at the Home Depot, I offered them separately.
Posted by: Mallory on February 25, 2008 08:36 PMAmen!!
Posted by: Allison on February 25, 2008 09:08 PMLisa,
There are forces at play here that are more powerful than you can possibly comprehend. People who challenge the money-stacking cartels have a nasty habit of disappearing -- or worse . . . waking up dead.
I beg you -- for your own safety -- drop this issue, delete this post/thread, and never EVER speak of this again (and, just to be sure, have somebody expendable start your car for the next few weeks). If you can't do it for your self, think of Nora -- she needs her mommy!
Posted by: Dave on February 26, 2008 09:14 AMi love this post. it makes me happy. haha.
Posted by: stace on February 26, 2008 09:34 AMLisa! I AGREE!! I am SICK to death of the "Change Perching!"
I propose they go one step further:
Give you your change first and allow you to put it in your wallet before giving you the bills!
Posted by: Jen on February 26, 2008 03:01 PMdear consumers,
god, you bitch a lot.
xo-
cashiers everywhere