# Cashiers unwilling to say $6.66 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 25, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966 "2014-04-25T16:38:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/41 "2014-04-25T20:38:11Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > leftfield6(66), would you do this next time you run across something like this? I’d love to hear the reaction. I’ll try to be prepared. So far, my immediate reaction has been extremely boring. I think the best I managed was a “Really?” to the lady at SmashBurger ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/42 "2014-04-25T20:50:11Z")
Only a few times in my entire life have I ever seen a cash register ring up $6.66, and each time,the cashier and I have treated it as a joke, and promptly forgotten about it. Just the same as we’d make a Columbus joke if the register showed “$14.92” or a Christmas joke if it said “$12.25” ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/43 "2014-04-25T21:03:28Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I worked for a company about 6 to 8 years ago that made RF ID tags for new born babies. This was to stop infant abduction, and also allow positive matching of baby to mother in hospital. Our tag numbers went from 001 to 999. There was no 666 tag number. I imagine some mothers would get quite spooked being handed baby number 666. It seems to me that these same people would be spooked by getting number 999 if they looked at it upside down. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/44 "2014-04-25T21:30:58Z")
A neighboring community’s telephone exchange starts with 666. There are a bunch of churches that have that as the start of their phone number and nobody seems to have a problem with it. But then, I live in one of the grown up states. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/45 "2014-04-26T10:57:23Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Just the same as we’d make a Columbus joke if the register showed “$14.92” or a Christmas joke if it said “$12.25” I’m sure its confirmation bias, but it seems I see $4.20 a helluva lot. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/46 "2014-04-26T11:05:59Z")
I personally hold no superstitions about the number, but when I’m working a cash register I always read it as “six dollars and sixty-six cents” on the off-chance that my customer is superstitious and would be made uncomfortable by reading the number in the more intuitive way. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Stilettos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Red\_Stilettos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Stilettos)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/47 "2014-04-26T12:07:35Z")
Part of the security code on one of me credit cards is 666. There are a few stores I frequent that ask to see the code when I’m checking out. On several occasions, I’ve watched the cashier’s demeanor change from friendly to withdrawn, almost hostile upon seeing the code. As if I’m the devil incarnate for having that card. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/48 "2014-04-26T12:21:54Z")
Friends laid a wedding related bill with check # 666. Still married, have a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/49 "2014-04-26T13:06:28Z")
If you want the problem to arise up here, you’d better be paying by credit/debit, not cash (and I suspect some places round credit/debit charges to keep things simple even if they don’t have to). Given that we have done away with pennies, $6.66 gets rounded down to $6.65 ($6.68 gets rounded up to $6. 70). ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/50 "2014-04-26T13:14:20Z")
Just remembered - Westboro Baptist Church (of Fred Phelps and God Hates Fags fame) has a zip code of 66604. Seems suitable! They have actually commented on that at least once, but I am far too lazy to go to the effort of finding that particular discussion. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/51 "2014-04-26T13:24:56Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Friends laid a wedding related bill with check # 666. Still married, have a kid. I bet the Thorns are proud of little Damien! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/52 "2014-04-26T14:02:06Z")
I have left $6.66 as a restaurant tip. Years ago there was a bizarre murder spree (later the subject of a true crime book), preceded by the perpetrator getting all out of shape at a store checkout over having to pay $6.66 for something. Humans are the craziest people. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/53 "2014-04-26T14:04:06Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > Just remembered - Westboro Baptist Church (of Fred Phelps and God Hates Fags fame) has a zip code of 66604. Seems suitable! They have actually commented on that at least once, but I am far too lazy to go to the effort of finding that particular discussion. 🙂 See post #23 ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/54 "2014-04-26T15:18:09Z")
There’s a car service here in NYC that I always hear ads for with a pretty famous jingle: [“666-66sixty6, the number 6.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqzxAaWktXQ) Anyone in the New York area will be very familiar with this tune. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/55 "2014-04-26T16:49:34Z")
I can’t recall ever having been charged precisely $6.66 for anything, ever, although it’s possible I just wouldn’t have noticed. But really, does $6.66 come up as a charge all that often? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/56 "2014-04-26T17:08:11Z")
My brother’s phone number is 696-9666. He gets phone calls all the time from people wanting to BUY his number from him. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/57 "2014-04-26T18:26:56Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > See post #23 Oops! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/58 "2014-04-26T18:41:33Z")
Hey, at least the great minimum wage masses are educated enough to know about this superstition. For note, in the 1980s the phone number prefix for USF and UCSF universities in San Francisco was 666. USF is a Jesuit institution. UCSF is a hospital and saying it sounds like sick-sick-sick. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/59 "2014-04-27T18:13:35Z")
Fred Phelps is dead? Maybe there is a god after all. I don’t think I ever heard of 666phobia, but I have spent very little time in the south. I did once have a Dell Computer telephone help guy hang up on me when I said, “What the hell am I supposed to do now?” ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966/60 "2014-04-27T19:06:52Z")
> [@Mithras](#): > > My social security number is more than half 6’s. Most people I need to tell it to are, of course, unfazed by it but sometimes it’ll get a reaction. My favorite was from the officer who gathered my information when I was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. He let me know he didn’t like, “all them 6’s.” I tried to make some light-hearted reply but he told me, without any humor, “Well, I don’t like them.” If we were in the same room now, I would have to apologize because I am laughing really hard. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashiers-unwilling-to-say-6-66/686966.md?page=4)