I’m in line paying for my lunch. The bill is $4.80 and I hand the clerk a $20 - she hands me three $5s and the 20 cents but I can see a $10 bill in the til. In the past I have asked if she could give me the ten rather than the two fives and her answer: “It’s my last one.” So who is she saving that ten-spot for?
I’ve seen this so many times I can’t count them all. When I worked retail I even did it myself and I can’t explain it.
If she give out that $10 then she probably has to go through the hassle of getting more. If the rest of the till is pretty full, she may just want to wait until she needs other denominations so she’s not calling for change so often.
I’ve never noticed it. I don’t do it when I have to use a till. Perhaps they’re saving it for someone who pays with a 50 or something?
And “gets”, not “get’s” please. It’s not short for anything.
She may be saving it for her boss . "Jane, change these two $5’s to $10 for me ! "… saves embarrassment… Or for when her boss is looking.
I suppose sometimes people ask for the $10 specifically. "Can I get a $10 so I can pay for bingo tomorrow morning ? "
She may be saving it for someone she has to give $88.95 change to.
$50,$20,3x$5, $2 , $1, 50c, 25c, 10c, 10c.
However, the saving of the $10 for that person only reduces the count by one.
So its no big deal.
Ah. I had never thought about it, but now that you mention it, this makes sense.
Her action only makes sense if she has a butt load of $5 and wants to trim them down. Makes checking out easier. When I played the til game, I always got rid of the bigger stuff. It gives you more options to make change with the smaller stuff.
If you refuse to use your last $10, then wouldn’t that really make your 2nd to last $10 your true last $10? So better not use that one either. Oh, but then your 3rd to last $10 would be the last $10… better just not let nobody have no tens nohow.
This only makes sense if she’s working under some inane policy where she has to immediately go fill a bill slot if it goes empty. As, otherwise, she could do exactly what she’s doing now when she doesn’t have a spare $10 bill.
Really, filling up the $10 slot by itself should never be a priority, as it’s only one extra bill in any situation. Only if the $5s and/or $20s go low does it make sense to do so.
The only explanation that makes sense to me is that she’s keeping it in case someone insists on needing a $10 for some reason. “But it’s my last one” may not discourage everyone.
I worked in convenience retail and fast food for twenty years. We had a supply of quarters, dimes, nickels, pennies, and $1 and $5 bills. We never kept a supply of $10 bills to put into the register. We never supplied $20 bills to the register either, and in fact encouraged cashiers to “drop” them (deposit them into the safe, thus securing them) at the earliest opportunity. This is why so many places say “No bill larger than $20” because they simply don’t have enough money in the till to consistently break large bills.
All that said, I don’t see why she wouldn’t give you the $10 bill. I don’t see any valid reason to keep it, especially when a customer specifically requests it.