### Author:  [@Illinois\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illinois_Boy)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2007, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/41 "2007-02-13T22:44:59Z")
I will gladly sign the “Change First” petition.
However, I’m a little surprised at the strong “counting change up” sentiment expressed here. I suppose it’s a natural corollary to the “change first”, but it has never occurred to me. I’m neither young nor old (35 years) and I’m struggling to remember how I did it back in my high school cashier days.
Whenever you hand me my bills, I strongly prefer them to be large bills on top, so that when they get slid into my wallet, I can maintain my larger to smaller / left to right cash management system.
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### Author:  [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/42 "2007-02-13T23:01:51Z")
Two methods of coping with this depending on your mood:
1. Say, “please hand the bills to me first and then hand over the change.”
2. Grab the bills and let the change fall all over the place. Then stand there (in the way of everyone else) and wait for the clerk to pick up the change and hand it to you.
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### Author:  [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2007, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/43 "2007-02-13T23:12:12Z")
[QUOTE=StuffLikeThatThere]
I’m only in my early thirties, btw. And could you turn that awful music down already? 😉
[/QUOTE]
It’s the hippity hoppity music, isn’t it?
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### Author:  [@Trivial\_Trivia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trivial_Trivia)
#### Post date: [February 13, 2007, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/44 "2007-02-13T23:45:16Z")
Easy fix: don’t hold out your hand flat. Hold it out as if you’re going to “pinch” the paper out of the clerks hand. Sometimes they drop the change on the counter in the process; that always fun to watch.
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/45 "2007-02-14T02:53:26Z")
[QUOTE=Kimstu]
So if the supermarket cash register says I owe $43.84, I hit the “Cash Back” button while doing a quick mental subtraction and punch in $26.16. Voila, I have the nice round number of $70 as a debit in my account record. Of course, the checkout clerk loathes me because she has to scrabble for coins in the cash register to make up my weird cashback amount instead of just shoving a twenty-dollar bill at me, but tough noogies. 😃 \
[/QUOTE]
Well, I gotta say, that’s kind of a dick thing to do. It’s on the same level of dickishness as paying all in pennies - perfectly legal, but kinda dickish.
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### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/46 "2007-02-14T03:17:03Z")
> [@featherlou](#):
>
> Well, I gotta say, that’s kind of a dick thing to do. It’s on the same level of dickishness as paying all in pennies - perfectly legal, but kinda dickish.
If I were deliberately doing it to piss off the checkout clerk or give her unnecessary trouble, I’d agree it would be a dickish thing to do. As it happens, though, I do it because I find it more convenient for myself, it doesn’t contravene store policy in any way, and it involves only a very minor increase of time and effort for the clerk (despite the hyperbole in my earlier post, she doesn’t actually “loathe” me for it), and a very minor delay for the other customers. If the supermarket really finds it too much trouble to provide non-round amounts of cashback, it can stop offering that option.
IMO, requesting a non-round cashback amount is nowhere near comparable, in terms of annoyance or dickishness, to paying a sizeable bill solely in pennies. I do sometimes hand over five pennies instead of a nickel, but I see nothing dickish about that either. Again, if the store doesn’t like it they can stop permitting it in their store policy.
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### Author:  [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/47 "2007-02-14T04:31:03Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou]
I thought this thread would be about how to MAKE change; that’s a whole 'nother Pit thread, I guess.
[/QUOTE]
I’d participate. I’ve been both a retail cashier and a casino cashier, and in my lifetime, I’ve handled hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not millions) in cash. I’ve reconciled my till to zero every day, mainly due to being able to handle and count cash correctly. Maybe because of that, I expect certain things to happen when I do a transaction at a retailer, a casino, or another place where cash is the preferred medium of exchange. Often, I’m disappointed.
I have to say that this “coins on bills” thing is silly. There is no need for it. A decent cashier should be able to (a) show the original tender in plain view (this discourages fraudsters and short-change artists), (b) make change for it correctly, (c) count the change into the customer’s hand with coins on bottom and bills on top, (d) put the original tender in the till, and (e) say “thank you” and smile. In that order. Follow that process and the arithmetic correctly, and there will never be a customer’s quibble or quarrel with change.
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### Author:  [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/48 "2007-02-14T04:34:33Z")
Use a credit card dude.
Either that or go to a store where the coin change is automatically dispensed through a machine into a little cup and the cashier just hands you the bills.
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### Author:  [@Klaatu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klaatu)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/49 "2007-02-14T06:23:29Z")
Agreed with the OP. This just happened to me earlier at a drive through, and I dropped maybe 50 cents on the ground. The clerk was like duh, and I am not going to contort myself to grab change off the ground when I can barely open my door, so I just left.
Probably lost twenty bucks worth of change over the years because of the “coins on top of the bills” thing. I don’t care, but it seems self evident which way works better.
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### Author:  [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/50 "2007-02-14T07:04:48Z")
I was a cashier for eight years. I gave coins first because I didn’t want it all over the place. I could also count out change ‘backwards’ like in the olden days, but usually only did so if a $50 or $100 bill was involved. It usually ended up with the customer looking at me as I did it like I was from Mars.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/51 "2007-02-14T07:33:26Z")
[QUOTE=Spoons]
I have to say that this “coins on bills” thing is silly. There is no need for it. A decent cashier should be able to (a) show the original tender in plain view (this discourages fraudsters and short-change artists), (b) make change for it correctly, (c) count the change into the customer’s hand with coins on bottom and bills on top, (d) put the original tender in the till, and (e) say “thank you” and smile. In that order. Follow that process and the arithmetic correctly, and there will never be a customer’s quibble or quarrel with change.
[/QUOTE]
Nonsense. Some customers want their bills first.
Cashiers aren’t mind readers- they can’t know if you are a “bills first or coins first” customer.
I prefer “bills first”.
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### Author:  [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/52 "2007-02-14T08:50:47Z")
What I hate is getting my bills back and finding that they’re not all facing the same direction.
And anybody who hands me the bills with the larger denominations on the top of the stack.
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### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/53 "2007-02-14T08:54:16Z")
I long ago gave up wishing for that. I have to take it upon myself to arrange my bills in order of denomination and then serial number.
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### Author:  [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/54 "2007-02-14T09:23:16Z")
[QUOTE=Will Repair]
1. Grab the bills and let the change fall all over the place. Then stand there (in the way of everyone else) and wait for the clerk to pick up the change and hand it to you.
[/QUOTE]
I kinda like that one. It’s nice and passive-aggressive.
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### Author:  [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/55 "2007-02-14T09:43:24Z")
[QUOTE=PunditLisa]
I look forward to a cashless society.
[/QUOTE]
you are not nearly paranoid enough.
not that I am particularly paranoid but cash is the last means we have of doing anything without a paper trail. while I dont engage in any illegal activities that would require this there are simply times that cash works best for me.
and as to the op, I couldnt care less how it gets to my hand, after I drop the pennies on the ground its easy enough to sort out from there.
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### Author:  [@rocksolid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocksolid)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/56 "2007-02-14T11:41:42Z")
Well I didn’t expect this level of response I must admit, thanks for all the replies folks, clearly I am not alone!
Special thanks to \*\*feathelou \*\* for describing perfectly the subject of the OP sub-rant. I make exceptions for old people but for anyone fit and able, do you really need to zip your coat up, put on your gloves, headband and scarf before you can move two feet away from the cash desk? Really? Why?
And while we’re bitchin’ about retail workers lets add another point…
Retail workers - You may think that everyone is an asshole and is rude and generally horrible to you and that’s why you have the no greeting, no smile, no interest in the customer attitude. But here’s a news flash for ya - you got this the wrong way round. Yup, there will always be assholes, but if you are friendly and attentive towards your customers you’ll find the majority are actually quite pleasant and sometimes even pleasant enough to make your working day better. Been there and done it ok, I know this. Grumpy co-workers always got the idiots, I rarely had a problem with anyone. Coincidence? I thoroughly enjoyed being able to make someone’s day that little better, easier or whatever. People really appreciated the effort I put into the service and I felt good about it (even though in the main it was a crummy job).
I ain’t a happy clappy ‘turn that frown upside down’ kinda person. Work sucks, maybe life sucks period. But I don’t believe in forcing your suffering onto others and I believe if I’m paid to do a job then I do it. I may hate it, but that’s my problem, not my customer’s.
Hey it’s ok to hijack your own thread innit? 🙂
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### Author:  [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/57 "2007-02-14T11:53:22Z")
I thought I responded to this OP yesterday, but apparently it got lost in the cyber-shuffle.
I am from the old school mindset. The cash registers I worked on didn’t tell you what the change was, so you counted out the coins up to the next dollar and then the bills. Always. The fact that the amount you owe your customer is now told to you almost forces the bills to go first.
I’m not nearly as annoyed about the New School at a counter as I am in a drive-through. You’re working with one hand and it’s an enormous pain in the ass to juggle coins on top of bills.
One more gripe about drive-through. _PLEASE_ don’t make me ask for a drink holder when I order two or more drinks. I would think this would be _obvious_.
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### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/58 "2007-02-14T12:19:29Z")
[QUOTE=Illinois\_Boy]
However, I’m a little surprised at the strong “counting change up” sentiment expressed here. I suppose it’s a natural corollary to the “change first”, but it has never occurred to me. I’m neither young nor old (35 years) and I’m struggling to remember how I did it back in my high school cashier days.
[/QUOTE]
It’s not a corollary, as has been explained, the change first was actually a _consequence_ of the “counting the change back instead of trying to calculate”. You’re reading it in the wrong direction.
I’ve been known to use a purse (one, I only have one) and I too take the money out first when I’m in my car. The only times I pay anything from my car is at the highway and that’s the reason they put up signs a couple km before stating what’s the price for a “type 1 vehicle”: so you can have it ready by the time you reach the toll. Makes for more fluid traffic than
reach for handbag
open handbag
root around for right wallet (I’m in a two-coin system right now and toll highways are one of the places where I have to use the right coinage)
open wallet on change side
get right amount in change if I can (if not, open notes side and take out smallest note that will cover the charge)
pay
say I don’t want a receipt
put everything back in place.
One reason I never, ever, ever use drive-thrus is that I have tiny hands and short arms and dangit, it’s always a bit of a circus and a lot of stress, and not much faster than parking.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/59 "2007-02-14T18:23:11Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun]
One more gripe about drive-through. _PLEASE_ don’t make me ask for a drink holder when I order two or more drinks. I would think this would be _obvious_.
[/QUOTE]
It isn’t. In fact my friend who drve a mini-van full of kids, has exactly the opposite complaint- he doesn’t want a drink holder as they are prone to twist and spill. He wants them handed to him so that he can put them one by one into the proper cup holder.
Again, cashiers can’t read your mind. If you want a drink holder-\* ask for i\*t. If you want your coins handed to you first, _ask for it._ If you can’t be bothered to ask for what you want, then you have no bitch rights.
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-workers-how-to-give-change/392020/60 "2007-02-14T18:30:47Z")
[QUOTE=rocksolid]
\Special thanks to \*\*feathelou \*\* for describing perfectly the subject of the OP sub-rant. I make exceptions for old people but for anyone fit and able, do you really need to zip your coat up, put on your gloves, headband and scarf before you can move two feet away from the cash desk? Really? Why?
\
[/QUOTE]
There’s a bunch of stuff that needs to be done on the customer’s side after a purchase, but stores are not concerned with that - after they’ve got our money, they just need us to get the hell out. NEXT! Never mind calling me by name and saying it’s customer service; how about some true customer service, and providing a place for customers to do stuff _after_ the transaction is complete, and you’re juggling a bunch of bags, bills, coins, a receipt, your wallet, your change purse, your purse, your baby, your outerwear, your umbrella, your coffee, etc.?
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