Setting the Precedent – My 4 Cents

by PkWynn on November 6, 2009

After reading the comments yesterday and seeing the story star rating as a dismal 1.8, I started to really feel like a jerk. Maybe I should have spotted the guy 4 cents even though he could have easily broken one of his dollar bills. He didn’t make the effort to look for change but assumed because he spent a certain amount of money in the store he’s entitled to a favor. I should have obliged to keep a long time customer, although its the first time I’ve ever seen him and I have been working there for many years. As one reader said, the cashier is the bad guy/idiot. I felt that way at work until…

A lady on her bluetooth headset came into my line and her total was $8.01. She pulled out nine 1 dollar bills and handed me eight. She stood there gazing at me as if I knew what to do.

Me: Oh, so your short a penny?

Bluetooth Lady: Yeah, where’s your penny cup? Do you even have a penny cup?

A lady behind her chimed in, “You need a penny cup!”

Me: Ok… I’ll cover you.

Bluetooth Lady: Yeah, you cover me and while your drawer is open, I want 4 quarters.

She handed me the dollar she was holding. I paused and calmly obliged. Then rang up the next order…

Me: It’ll be $17.57, please.

She handed me $17.55 and started to look around as if there were pennies on the ground. Then she looked at me and said, “You need a penny cup.”

Me: …

After those back to back scenarios, I felt my actions on the last story was justified. If you have they money then you can break it for change. If you didn’t then I would have covered it by digging for change in my car but I will not take money from the register or the charity bin. I’m sure we all have regular customers and we will go the extra mile for them, they know who they are and we’re thankful for them.

  • Doominator

    You see, how I do it is I don’t make a big deal if I notice their slightly short cash. HOWEVER, I never do that for annoying douchers like this, i’ve gotten yelled at sure… but it was hyserical nonetheless

  • M’

    whether they are regular or new customers.
    they should still pay for anything they bought in full.

    u have a really tough job.

  • http://thetreeswillclap.wordpress.com Erika

    This is absolutely ridiculous! I always thought those penny cups were there for real emergencies, when somebody was buying something and really didn’t have the right amount of money on them. Thats ridiculous. These people are just cheap… you’re buying x amount’s worth of stuff; pay for it!

    You have great patience. Keep it up!

  • http://www.phoenixism.net David Quintero

    I agree w/ Erika, those cups are emergency funds for the shopping community. How can a penny cup be expected to flourish if everyone assumes they can dip into it just because they don’t want to break a dime lol. I have a bank full of damned pennies and they come in handy when I drive-thru fast food places because inevitably the final total is always something ridiculous like $5.73.

  • Ashley

    I think this is so funny. How people actually think that they don’t have to pay in full for the items they purchased a few pennies short or not! If u have money in your hands or purse obviously your better off then someone who would really need it! ie: penny cups or donation cups are for those less fortunate that don’t have dollar bills wadded up not wanting to break it for change! That long tome customer of yours and the next lady are just selfish and ungrateful.. Oh also cheap asses!

  • http://www.mostlygrocery.com PkWynn

    Thank you Erika! Patience is what keeps us going!

  • Erica

    Now I worked at a family run holistic pet supply store for almost 4 years, where customer loyalty was pretty much the only thing that kept us going. Some people would tell us to keep the change, and we’d leave it on top of the register for the people who were genuinely short a few cents, and whatever was left over at the end of the day went to the donation jars. But I have never, NEVER been asked to spot someone a few cents who had an extra dollar sitting right in their hand, and we had some pretty jerk customers.
    Personally, I usually pride myself on trying to give the clerk exact change whenever I pay with cash, because I know how important it is to have your drawer come out even. but every once in a while it’s time to break a new 1, and I have gotten some seriously rude and also surprisingly nice encounters with clerks on those days. Fairly frequently and without asking I’ve been spotted upwards of 15 cents when I had money. And even more frequently I’ve been scowled and grumbled at because I didn’t have -exactly- 7 cents and they were going to have to break a 1.
    How hard is it to count coins out, really??

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