May 10th, 2004
So, you know what's really grinding my gears these days? Cashiers who return my change with the coins precariously balanced on top of the bills. I mean, think about it: First they have to go to all the trouble of balancing the change on top of the bills, hand it across the counter to me (which frequently results in some of the coins sliding off onto the counter or floor), and then I have to extricate the bills out from under the coins to get them into my wallet. Why do they do this? Did someone teach them at cashier school to return money this way? I hope not. I hope it's just a fad that will eventually fade, because it's inefficient and likely to result in lost coins.
Why not just put the coins into my hand and the bill on top? Or, better yet, leave it on the counter, and I'll pick it up myself. That's the way it is normally done. But, by God, stop wasting time and effort to build a delicately-balanced and doomed-to-failure construction of coins on bills. It's awkward for the cashiers, it's awkward for me, and it wastes both our time.
You know, this bizarre behaviour started again a year or two ago, and seemed to spring up spontaneously. I guess one person did it and another cashier received change that way, and it grew exponentially from there. Normally, something like this grows because there is a need that is satisfied by it. But this particular behaviour doesn't solve any problems, it just makes life harder for both cashier and customer.
It reminds me of my friend Sean, who used to like to stand his portable telephone up on its end. It could fall over at the slightest agitation, but still he had a desire to set it up precariously. For a few months I was living with him, and it used to drive me bonkers. So I'd put his phone down on its side where it could not fall over. But next time he used it, he'd stand it up again. Why, Sean, why? And while we're on the subject, why did you frequently eat ice cream out of a glass? That irritated me too. And your "efficiency" argument didn't convince me. Same with your "easier to wash" argument. And ...
Ah, never mind ...