Unfortunately, Jewamongyou has a cold. Naturally, I visited my local supermarket to buy provisions for a chicken soup.
All went well, until I got to the register. The total was 531 pesos, and I gave the cashier a 1000 peso note, then I dug in my pocket and handed him another 31 pesos.
That way, he could simply give me a 500 peso note as change…
Instead, he requested a calculator from the neighboring cashier and puzzled over it for a good minute or more. Clearly, he was stumped.
Then he opened the register, and gave me 465 pesos back. I tried to correct him, but he spoke no English, and the people behind me were starting to get agitated. 66 pesos is a bit over a dollar, and I wasn’t feeling well, so I made a face and let it be.
Lesson learned: Don’t complicate things for uneducated people; you’ll only make matters worse.
I do this all the time, and I’ve never had a problem with any cashier of any race.
One asshole that I DO remember was the Nigerian cashier at a gas station in NY. When I paid cash I would usually see how much change I had in my pocket and pump that amount. For example, $17.39, etc. The guy gave me a hard time about that, even though he didn’t even have to make change, so I stopped buying gas there.