I have a peeve. It's not a life-affecting peeve, but like all peeves, it gets under my skin every time it happens, churning the wheels in my brain to think about how I want to fix this, until 1 minute later, I am out the door and the moment passes. At any store, grocery or otherwise, there are two ways the cashier can hand you the change: first the coins then the bills, or the coins piled on top of the bills. The former -first the coins in the palm of your hand then the bills into your fingertips- makes sense to the customer, though it requires two steps for the cashier. To the customer, who is juggling bags, wallets, and trying to grab the purchases to move swiftly out of the way of the next customer, this is the most efficient. It allows you to drop the bills into your bag, pocket, wallet and not drop the coins all over the ground.
The latter approach makes no sense to me, whatsoever, and is completely inefficient and unhelpful to the customer. I personally don't even get it from the cashier point of view, but that it looks tidy. To fold the bills long ways, delicately to hold a pile of loose change, and pass it steadily over to the customer seems like it should be an act in the circus. You can even see the look on the cashier's face as they push their hand (an act of one hand) forward, nervously, and let out a small, silent sigh of relief once it has changed hands and now is the responsibility and under the care of the customer. The act can be likened to the game of passing the orange from chin to chin. Once you've passed it, if it gets dropped, wasn't on your watch!!!
I will admit that other people may be more coordinated than this author, but 5 out of 10 times, in trying to grab it all, coins fall all over the place- on the floor, in my bag, in my purchases -and my hands are twisted in wildly artistic ways trying to catch them, take hold of the bills, juggle my bags and step aside for the next customer. Yes, I look like a clutz, and the cashier just stands there looking dumb-founded at how much of an idiot their customer could be! Isn't that just peachy, my eyes implore. You figured it would be a nice, neat package to hand me bills with a mountain of loose coins and I look like the idiot. Next time, don't do me any favors. Take the extra minute to hand me the coins first, then the bills. I'll smile and be on my way.
So true DD. I'm with you and I prefer the change first then the bills. The good news is now I know that it is not just me! There is always such relief in knowing that our little pet peeves, whether it be manner in which change is handed over or our children's behavior, are not just our experiences but are shared by some many others. Loving the blog!!
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