That shouldn’t be an issue. I’ve yet to encounter a cashier who refused to make change when I provided more money than the total on the register. In the present case, if the old lady had surrendered a five-dollar bill, she would have received four dollars and three cents’ change; she would have spent a net of 97 cents, just the same as she spent by handing over 97 cents in coins from her purse.
If I intend to pay cash, AND if I happen to have some coins in my pocket, I’ll have them out in my hand and give them a quick glance to see if I can pay in exact change (or something close to it); if not, I’ll just hand over an appropriate stack of paper money and wait for my change.
There once were just as many little old men doing this as there were little old ladies. Once upon a time, quite a few men carried little coin purses in their pockets, and it was common to get “stuck” in line behind them while they picked through the change with their palsied fingers. I think now those men are almost all dead (you’re welcome!) but some of the ladies still survive. They don’t bother me, but I’m not in such an all-fired hurry as some of you seem to be.
Oh, god, yes. And it’s a complex, multi-stage process – set purse on counter, unsnap purse, unzip (at least one) compartment, retrieve pocketbook, unfold pocketbook, unzip compartment …
Gaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!
And of course if the purse is dangling from an arm instead of sitting on the counter, it takes even longer …
Why isn’t your method of payment more accessible than this? It should take no more than half a second for anyone to retrieve the three most important items that one carries – keys, wallet, phone.
I’m officially an old geezer (just turned 66), and I hoard pennies. So far I’ve got about $200 worth, in anticipation of a future rainy day when I’ll need them. But as people get older, that “future rainy day” gets replaced by a shorter “future,” so it makes more sense to just get rid of loose change, rather than bequeathing it to their ungrateful kids.
Since I don’t have kids, my partner will get my pennies. He doesn’t want them, so I might as well start liquidating them now.
I think this has something to do with it. When you don’t have much money and you want to keep your paper funds to pay for your water bill or whatever paying with exact change at the drugstore makes sense.
I just got an image in my head of a lawyer reading someone’s will out loud: “And to you, Jonathan, the deceased has left his gallon jug of pennies. It doesn’t say if this is because he loved you or because he found you annoying but I suppose that could go either way.”
If I absolutely have to pay for something in cash, I will leave all change except quarters behind. Change is annoying and it smells funny. I never have cash on me and will usually just leave my purchase behind if I get to a register and they don’t take cards or the card machine is down.
However I AM hoarding ammunition and antibiotics to use in trade for food and supplies once the End Times come since my cards (and cash) will be worthless. So I’ve got that going for me.
We do it because all you young folk are too busy talking on your earwig phones while texting with your eyes glued to your cellphones to be a useful part of civilization.
Oh, no- old men do it, too. They have tiny change purses that they dip into with their yellow, overgrown fingernails… <shudder>. I think I have PTSD from working at grocery stores in the past.
Depending on the mix of tourists to locals, my business takes in roughly half plastic, 40-45% cash, and the remainder as a mix of personal checks and gift cards.
A lot of the people writing checks are locals who are trying to be supportive, because they realize that if I take a credit card it’s shaving 3% or so off my bottom line, but the check doesn’t cost me anything. I am frequently asked by customers whether I’d prefer to take a check or a credit card. I think it’s nice.
I have a wallet in my purse and in my wallet in a change compartment. I prefer to pay cash as often as possible. When the total comes to 6.47, I am counting out six out of my paper money compartment and 47 cents out of my change compartment. I don’t want another 53 cents in change. It takes no longer than you swiping your card and entering your PIN.
And I am NOT old. (Well, maybe a little on the older side of young but most definitely not on the older side of old).
I try to pay in exact change (when it won’t take me too long) out of consideration for the cashiers, who are often short of change and tired of people handing them twenties to pay for a stick of gum.
I’m old and now that I know it bugs the hell out of you young punks who hate old people, I think I’ll start doing it. Up till now, I just hand over enough cash to cover the bill and accept the change that I get. If I don’t have enough cash to cover the bill, I use my ATM card (my bank doesn’t yet charge for this). Since ALL old people are insensitive and worthless, I’ll try to live up to your expectations for me.
I’m older than most of you (although not as old as some) and I LOVE to pay cash.
I don’t have to worry about my checking account shrinking when I have nothing to show for it except a bunch of empty coffee cups and snack wrappers.
I don’t have to worry about debit card charges, leaving my debit card on the counter, having the card reader break down, or absent-mindedly using one of the dozen other PIN numbers I’ve had to memorize over the years.
And as long as I’m paying cash, I might as well pay the exact change. I don’t want all those leftover pennies any more than you do, and I consider it my patriotic duty to keep them in circulation so the U.S. Mint doesn’t have to make any more than necessary.
Now turn down that damn music! I can’t even hear the cashier telling me to have a nice day.
That shouldn’t be an issue. I’ve yet to encounter a cashier who refused to make change when I provided more money than the total on the register. In the present case, if the old lady had surrendered a five-dollar bill, she would have received four dollars and three cents’ change; she would have spent a net of 97 cents, just the same as she spent by handing over 97 cents in coins from her purse.
