# George W on a dollar bill (funny news story) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 31, 2001, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-on-a-dollar-bill-funny-news-story/52574 "2001-01-31T16:04:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2001, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-on-a-dollar-bill-funny-news-story/52574/1 "2001-01-31T16:04:05Z")
[http://foxnews.com/fn99/etcetera/013101/bush\_bill.sml](http://foxnews.com/fn99/etcetera/013101/bush_bill.sml) Part of the news article: DANVILLE, Ky. — A $200 bill bearing the likeness of President Bush would seem to be an obvious fake. But it seemed real enough to fool one fast-food cashier. Police are looking for the person who used the bill to buy $2.12 worth of food at a Dairy Queen, and drove away after getting $197.88 in change. In addition to the Bush portrait on the front, the treasury seal is marked with the phrase, “The right to bear arms.” An oil well appears on the back of the bill. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2001, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-on-a-dollar-bill-funny-news-story/52574/2 "2001-01-31T16:17:17Z")
That… is… hysterical! I noticed the police said that because the bill was such an obvious fake, the perp wouldn’t be charged with passing bad bills (if caught, anyway); he’d only be charged with failure to pay for a purchase. Hmm… Just wondering here, if you don’t pay for a purchase, is it a purchase? Doesn’t a purchase by definition have to be paid for? And if you don’t pay for something that’s not yours, isn’t that… stealing? 😕 You know, they don’t mention it in the story, but I wonder if that dumb cashier got fired over it. If I were his/her boss, I’d have to strongly consider it - would you want someone handling your money who didn’t know there’s no such thing as a $200 George W. Bush bill? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2001, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-on-a-dollar-bill-funny-news-story/52574/3 "2001-01-31T16:53:55Z")
Keep in mind: Tight job market + Menial job + Minimum wage = Few Rhode Scholars working at Dairy Queen. On a side note, I think your focusing on the wrong thing here. Sure the kid accepted a poorly photocopied $200 bill with George Bush’s picture on it and a pair of crossed assult rifles on the Treasuary seal, but {b]he managed to make the right change\*\*. That in my experience makes him/her superior to many McDonalds employees I’ve met. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2001, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-on-a-dollar-bill-funny-news-story/52574/4 "2001-01-31T17:02:18Z")
LOL! Good point, inky. But then again, all you have to do nowadays is punch in the amount the customer gives you. So if you give the kid a $200 bill and he assumes it to be real, he’ll punch in “$200” - and then the machine will simply tell him he needs to give XXX in change. Of course, that doesn’t prevent him from not counting properly… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![hypergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/49beb7/32.png) [@hypergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hypergirl)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2001, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-on-a-dollar-bill-funny-news-story/52574/5 "2001-01-31T23:02:12Z")
I can’t believe some idiot actually took that. And it’s great that he’s not even getting charged with counterfeiting. Only in America. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![sorrel554](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@sorrel554](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sorrel554)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2001, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-on-a-dollar-bill-funny-news-story/52574/6 "2001-01-31T23:13:05Z")
This happened in my hometown :o while I was there this weekend. I saw a picture of the fake bill. It looks even faker than you might think. On the back, in addition to the oil well on the White House lawn, there are signs reading “We Like Broccoli” or something like that. The “serial number” on the bill is, I think, “I(heart)2smrk4u.” In addition, there was scotch tape all over the bill. I keep wondering who accepted it; chances are I know them! :eek: I went to that Dairy Queen on Monday and the manager was working the drive through. I thought that was odd, but at that point the news hadn’t yet broken! ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-on-a-dollar-bill-funny-news-story/52574/7 "2001-02-01T04:52:28Z")
Oh, D Marie, you gotta keep us updated on this! ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-on-a-dollar-bill-funny-news-story/52574/8 "2001-02-01T05:20:51Z")
There is is … [http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/p/nm/20010131/ts/imdf07662.html](http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/p/nm/20010131/ts/imdf07662.html) ---
**Author:** ![OrcaChow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e47c2d/32.png) [@OrcaChow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OrcaChow)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-on-a-dollar-bill-funny-news-story/52574/9 "2001-02-01T10:14:20Z")
About twenty, twenty-five years ago in (IIRC) Cloverdale, CA, a guy paid for a $19 traffic fine with a $22 bill. The bill bore his own picture, with him wearing a Panama hat and jauntily smoking a cigar. The court clerk gave him $3 change. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-on-a-dollar-bill-funny-news-story/52574/10 "2001-02-01T10:16:57Z")
$198.[sup]00[/sup] in change from a single bill! Hoo boy!!! ---
**Author:** ![Yardstick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8c91f0/32.png) [@Yardstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yardstick)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-on-a-dollar-bill-funny-news-story/52574/11 "2001-02-01T19:53:28Z")
> [@](#): > > And it’s great that he’s not even getting charged with counterfeiting. Only in America. It’s only counterfitting if you attempt to pass fake _actual_ currency, the loophole is that since there is no $200 bill Therefore it’s only ‘theft by decpetion’ (fraud) Only in America. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2001, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-w-on-a-dollar-bill-funny-news-story/52574/12 "2001-02-01T20:15:52Z")
Way back in pre-history (1982) I was working at Taco Bell during HS. One of our cashiers gave a guy change for a fifty. The bill was a one dollar bill with 50’s taped to the corners. It still had George Washington’s pic.