Making change.
Dave and I had a funny experience at the drugstore across the street from our apartment today, and all because of a little change. The backstory here is that, for reasons we cannot completely discern, the people who run cash registers in Germany are really stingy with giving out change. On the one hand, we find it very encouraging, since these people will do the change-making math in their heads and ask you for loose change (for example, if you are spending 26 Euro and you hand them a 50, they will ask you to give them a 1 Euro coin so they only need to give you a 5 and 20 Euro note in return). On the other hand, it is also frustrating in those situations where you don't actually have the correct change, or, worse yet, you are deliberately trying to break a big bill (this is a particular problem in Germany where the ATM's routinely give you 50 Euro notes).
Some of our friends, Jessica and Adrian, had their own problem with this situation a couple of weeks ago. Their washing machine in their apartment is kaput, so they have to do their laundry at the Laundromat for now. Of course, the machines only take coins, and our friends only had large bills. Adrian noticed the Kaiser's grocery store across the street was open, and walked in to ask the Frau behind the cash register if he could have some change for a 20 Euro note - not all in coins, but perhaps 5-10 Euro worth of 1 and 2 Euro coins. She refused. In a stroke of ingenuity, Adrian went into the store, picked out a beer, and handed it to the Frau. She gave him a funny look, but sold him the beer. He asked if he could have some coins as change for his purchase, and again she refused to give him any more coins than the absolute minimum. So Adrian went back into the store again, grabbed another beer, and waited again in line (since it was late at night, only one lane was open and he had to go back to the same Frau again). This time she got a little angry, but again sold him the beer and gave him the minimum change back. Adrian went for a third beer, and this time the Frau got really angry and refused to sell him the beer this time. So Adrian had to leave the store, and he and Jessica drank the beers over their laundry (which, incidentally, did not get finished that night for lack of the proper change). Note: for some reason, there was not a change machine at the Laundromat.
So, with full knowledge of Adrian's experience, I forced Dave to test fate at Schlecker this morning. He had a 5, a 20, and a collection of loose change. We were splitting up to meet with different friends in the evening, and needed to break the 20 so we could each have enough money to take with us. I told Dave to use the 20 to buy our three-pack of sponges (cost, including tax=.99 Euro). Wisely, while I waited in line, Dave backed out of sight of the Frau at the cash register and took the other money out of his wallet, and made sure that his change didn't jingle. I watched as the Frau checked out the girl in front of us, and kindly wished her a good day at the end of the transaction. Dave walked up to the register and gave the Frau the sponges. Having absolutely no cash myself, I stood off to the side and watched. She rang them up, and Dave handed her the 20. She looked at it with disgust, and asked him if he didn't have any change. Dave said no. She looked at me, sighed, raised her voice a little, and said, "not even a 1 or 2 Euro coin?" Dave kept a straight face and shook his head. Then the lady started muttering about how rude we were and how she should not be expected to give up her change for a 20 when we were only buying one item that was so cheap. Dave asked what he was supposed to do, when the ATM machines always give such big bills? The Frau slapped the change down on the counter so violently that some of the coins landed on their sides and rolled a little bit, so Dave and to kind of chase down the change and scoop it into his pocket.
It's possible that it's more difficult for German stores to keep change on hand, or perhaps they are just not in the practice of doing so becuase this is such a cash culture and people rarely give out big bills (one might ask, then, who is breaking all of these 50 Euro notes we get from the ATM's but that will take more time to figure out).
After our experience, I ask myself: are we being audacious Americans by thinking it's acceptable to use whatever kind of bill we want to make a purchase at a store? Is it not true that, even if the shopkeeper gives us 19 Euro change, that she still has made 1 Euro? The bottom line is that the German storekeepers just see the situation quite differently than we do, so I am either going to have to be better about carrying change (less likely) or develop thicker skin about being scolded for not having small bills or coins (more likely).
Dave and I had a funny experience at the drugstore across the street from our apartment today, and all because of a little change. The backstory here is that, for reasons we cannot completely discern, the people who run cash registers in Germany are really stingy with giving out change. On the one hand, we find it very encouraging, since these people will do the change-making math in their heads and ask you for loose change (for example, if you are spending 26 Euro and you hand them a 50, they will ask you to give them a 1 Euro coin so they only need to give you a 5 and 20 Euro note in return). On the other hand, it is also frustrating in those situations where you don't actually have the correct change, or, worse yet, you are deliberately trying to break a big bill (this is a particular problem in Germany where the ATM's routinely give you 50 Euro notes).
Some of our friends, Jessica and Adrian, had their own problem with this situation a couple of weeks ago. Their washing machine in their apartment is kaput, so they have to do their laundry at the Laundromat for now. Of course, the machines only take coins, and our friends only had large bills. Adrian noticed the Kaiser's grocery store across the street was open, and walked in to ask the Frau behind the cash register if he could have some change for a 20 Euro note - not all in coins, but perhaps 5-10 Euro worth of 1 and 2 Euro coins. She refused. In a stroke of ingenuity, Adrian went into the store, picked out a beer, and handed it to the Frau. She gave him a funny look, but sold him the beer. He asked if he could have some coins as change for his purchase, and again she refused to give him any more coins than the absolute minimum. So Adrian went back into the store again, grabbed another beer, and waited again in line (since it was late at night, only one lane was open and he had to go back to the same Frau again). This time she got a little angry, but again sold him the beer and gave him the minimum change back. Adrian went for a third beer, and this time the Frau got really angry and refused to sell him the beer this time. So Adrian had to leave the store, and he and Jessica drank the beers over their laundry (which, incidentally, did not get finished that night for lack of the proper change). Note: for some reason, there was not a change machine at the Laundromat.
So, with full knowledge of Adrian's experience, I forced Dave to test fate at Schlecker this morning. He had a 5, a 20, and a collection of loose change. We were splitting up to meet with different friends in the evening, and needed to break the 20 so we could each have enough money to take with us. I told Dave to use the 20 to buy our three-pack of sponges (cost, including tax=.99 Euro). Wisely, while I waited in line, Dave backed out of sight of the Frau at the cash register and took the other money out of his wallet, and made sure that his change didn't jingle. I watched as the Frau checked out the girl in front of us, and kindly wished her a good day at the end of the transaction. Dave walked up to the register and gave the Frau the sponges. Having absolutely no cash myself, I stood off to the side and watched. She rang them up, and Dave handed her the 20. She looked at it with disgust, and asked him if he didn't have any change. Dave said no. She looked at me, sighed, raised her voice a little, and said, "not even a 1 or 2 Euro coin?" Dave kept a straight face and shook his head. Then the lady started muttering about how rude we were and how she should not be expected to give up her change for a 20 when we were only buying one item that was so cheap. Dave asked what he was supposed to do, when the ATM machines always give such big bills? The Frau slapped the change down on the counter so violently that some of the coins landed on their sides and rolled a little bit, so Dave and to kind of chase down the change and scoop it into his pocket.
It's possible that it's more difficult for German stores to keep change on hand, or perhaps they are just not in the practice of doing so becuase this is such a cash culture and people rarely give out big bills (one might ask, then, who is breaking all of these 50 Euro notes we get from the ATM's but that will take more time to figure out).
After our experience, I ask myself: are we being audacious Americans by thinking it's acceptable to use whatever kind of bill we want to make a purchase at a store? Is it not true that, even if the shopkeeper gives us 19 Euro change, that she still has made 1 Euro? The bottom line is that the German storekeepers just see the situation quite differently than we do, so I am either going to have to be better about carrying change (less likely) or develop thicker skin about being scolded for not having small bills or coins (more likely).
posted by Erin at 10:30 PM
2 Comments:
I'd like to note that the stories, as told by Erin, represent a version of the truth -- the version she chooses to remember. This isnt to say that this is a bad thing -- hell, I am definately guilty. But should you ever talk to Adrian or myself, these stories might have a detail or two that will be different.
Just for clarity:
• Adrian went to the store and bought a beer and then asked for the change...he knew that there was no chance that the cashier would simply make change for him.
• The lady was really, really pissed at me because the girl that was in front of me had just done the same exact thing. In fact, what gave me the time to change the money in my pockets was the fact that the lady had to go to the safe to get change for the previous customer...I didnt know that was what she was doing until she was raving like a lunatic while getting my change.
And these are the parts of being partnered up that make your one story, 20 years from now two stories instead.
Happy Birthday (again) Erin!
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