An Owl's 2 hoots

Saturday, August 20, 2005

'Change'd

Nowadays, I am not checking the change I recieve from stores or shops. Maybe it is due to the "balance display" in the cash-register and also since the employee states the balance explicitly, or my implicit(!!) trust that the change must be correct. Of course, this does not apply if I pay by card.

So this is my normal course of action: I pay for the items I buy, get the change and put the change in my car change-compartment or any other such "reservoir". Then if I need to use the vending machine, I fish out change from these "reservoirs".

Some weeks back, I was taking change out as usual, and I saw that I had, not one, but 3 Canadian Quarters (25 cents) instead of the US quarters!. The vending machine was refusing to take the coin in. Now I don't know if those three were given to me as change in one transaction or I had got them on separate occasions (the shame of it!). But it was definitely due to my negligence.

This was not the case in India. Right from the change which I was getting from the bus conductor, I was going through them diligently. Maybe I am taking technology for granted.

Oh, in case you were wondering what happened to the Canadian coins, I "(un)wittingly" passed it on at a Tacobell restaurant!.

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posted by tt_giant at 8:30 AM

24 Comments:

  • mm.. a few things to a/c for:

    1) Trust on the guys who give coins
    2) Actual value of the coins (since most prices are rounded off to the next full digit, you wont anyway get much coins, right?)
    3) Status (compare one's financial situation in India vis-a-vis here)
    4) Laziness

    We used to get some Srilankan coins when we were in Rameswaram.. Havent seen any Canadian coin here yet..

    What I do to the nickel and dime is, when I am really bored, collect 100 1 and 5 cents to make one dollar, put them in a box and give them to our grocery shop people while renting Indian movies.. (just for fun.. hehe)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at August 20, 2005 11:25 AM  

  • GP: whether points 1, 2 and 3 are accountable or not, definitely 4 is agreed!.

    nickel and dime: LOL!. paavum avanga..

    By Blogger tt_giant, at August 20, 2005 4:20 PM  

  • I too never check the change. The reason: I still get confused with dimes and nickels!!

    By Blogger Me too, at August 20, 2005 4:56 PM  

  • This is Ullas from AI Lab, ASU.

    Thanks for stopping by.

    Seems life is treating you well. The first conversation with you that I remember is you saying " I left for US on the day I turned 21".

    Stay away from them gators :-)

    I am moving to UC Davis. So if you happen to visit San Fran, Yosemite, do let me know.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at August 20, 2005 7:02 PM  

  • Its the circle of money..the taco guys wouldve given it to another bemused soul :>

    By Blogger Maverick, at August 21, 2005 2:45 AM  

  • I never carry any change with me. 99% of the time I use my card - Donno whether its for good or for evil. Once I was really taken aback to see American express had credited 1 cent to my account :-)They could have ignored it as well.

    By Blogger Kasthuri, at August 21, 2005 6:46 AM  

  • Aparna: even i had the confusion initially. it just does not seem logical.. smaller coin is 10 cents and a bigger one is 5 cents!!

    --..--..--

    Ullas: Thanks for coming to my blog!. So I assume its for a post-doc position you are going to UCDavis?.

    By Blogger tt_giant, at August 21, 2005 7:25 AM  

  • Maverick: LOL!, that "bemused soul" could be me in the future!!

    Srini: Thing with card is that, every purchase is accounted. That may or may not be what one wants always!.

    1 cent ku enna vaangineenga??!!

    By Blogger tt_giant, at August 21, 2005 7:28 AM  

  • onnumae puriyala, namba ooruilla inda madri irunda aalunga moolaga aarachiduvangal!

    By Blogger ada-paavi!!!!, at August 21, 2005 6:06 PM  

  • this used to happen here in Singapore.. with Malaysian ringgits. But the vendors used to be more careful. I have realised couple of time, only when they intimated me.

    Since I used to cross the borders very often, I can use it easily. The only difference is the loss of 50% of the money value due to the exchange rate. Lucky that I had this problem only on small denominations.

    By Blogger Ram C, at August 21, 2005 7:41 PM  

  • Atleast u have got those 3 candaian quarters.. but I haved donated n number of 50 ps and 25 ps to local bus transport here.. the conductor gives my 50ps only if I give 1 rupee..I always carry atleast 10-15 50 ps and 25 ps coins with me inorder to avoid my generous donations to local transport

    By Blogger BoldTaurean, at August 21, 2005 10:53 PM  

  • also forgot to mention this.. most of the times in a bakery/shop. instead of 50 ps they give me alpenlibe/coffee bite..nice way to dispose old stuff..

    By Blogger BoldTaurean, at August 22, 2005 12:25 AM  

  • hey tt,very different post..sometimes we forget to notice such little things..its funny & very interesting!

    By Blogger Siddharth, at August 22, 2005 2:05 AM  

  • Vatsan: aama.. namba oorla mottai adichu molagai arachiduvaanga!

    --..--..--

    Ram: Atleast anga kadaikarranga solraangaley.. inga suthom..

    By Blogger tt_giant, at August 22, 2005 7:11 AM  

  • Boldtaurean: LOL!.. alpenlibe/coffeebite.. it happened to me too!!

    --..--..--

    Siddharth: thanks man. chumma different a ezhudalaame nu thaan..

    By Blogger tt_giant, at August 22, 2005 7:12 AM  

  • actually you need to watch these things. I remember my brother-in-law telloing me that one of the guy he knew from his grad-school days would cheat the laundary machine by putting in 1 rupee coins instead of quarters.
    sick people.

    By Blogger saranyan r, at August 22, 2005 11:13 PM  

  • "Change" is the only permanent thing in life (please "note" this) :-)

    By Blogger Krish, at August 23, 2005 1:39 AM  

  • Paran: yes, you are right. I need to be more careful in the future. One of my seniors mentioned that an old edition of India's 50p coin resembles the US quarter in size and weight and some guys brought a bunch of them from India to use it!!

    --..--..--

    Thennavan: You are back!. yea.. duly "note"d. LOL!

    By Blogger tt_giant, at August 23, 2005 6:12 AM  

  • good observation...you are not the only person to miss out on coins...we have quarters in our apartment and i have lots of canadian coins along with US quarters and by mistake have taken that to do laundry, but haven't tried to use them though!!!

    By Blogger mitr_bayarea, at August 23, 2005 11:45 AM  

  • Mitr: Welcome to my blog!. yea coin laundry machines.. puhleease.. don't get me started on that!!

    By Blogger tt_giant, at August 23, 2005 5:42 PM  

  • Enna Deepak, Katrina neenga irukkira idathukku varra polerukku.. Jaakkiradhai.. Ava varrache veetleye irunga.. Office-ku leave pottirunga.. Veetle ketta 'Katrina'-vukkaga potten-nu sollidunga..

    ToI-le headline: Katrina stirs Florida !!

    By Blogger Raju, at August 25, 2005 12:38 PM  

  • Gangadhar: Yea. seems like its prevalent everywhere!!

    --..--..--

    GP: :-(.. aama.. katrina naayi indha side thaan varraa. slow moving storm vera.. tholla..

    By Blogger tt_giant, at August 25, 2005 3:02 PM  

  • Katrina-vukku badhila Katrina Kaif visit adicha kannukku kulirchiya irukkum.. :-)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at August 25, 2005 3:15 PM  

  • Change--blogs can help, but when you're serious about change, we all need to change our thinking. For that, try looking at www.innertalk.com

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at November 23, 2005 1:28 PM  

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