Skip to main content

Five Dollars and Five Cents

I was shopping yesterday at Wal-Mart. My wallet was feeling a little light, so I decided to get money back with my purchase. I was thinking about getting say $15 dollars. The smallest option was $20. So I chose $20. The friendly checker offered to give me a $20 dollar bill or four $5s. I was going to get the $20, but then I thought about the times I wish I had smaller bills for things like tips at restaurants.

I was wondering about getting a $10 and two $5s. I peaked into her drawer and saw why she didn't offer giving me a $10. Her cash drawer had no $10s. She explained that they didn't give them any $10s to start with. She said any $10s she got were from customers. So I'm guessing I was her first or one of her first customers of the day.

This reminded me of something I've noticed a few times. I told her, 'Yeah - it seems like you always run out of $5 bills too soon. But you don't run out of nickels.'

She said, 'Yeah, why is that?'

That gave me a chance to tell her my theory. I've noticed it a few times before. I told her, 'because we don't have a $25 bill. We have a $20.'

She thought about it for a few seconds and agreed.

Yes, there are other factors. But I think the main reason is that with coins we have a 25 cent piece, but in dollars with have a 20 dollar bill.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hiking Blodgett Peak 12/25/2005

So Christmas day Sunday, but we don't do Christmas. And a day off Monday. No real plans until Sunday evening for Channukah. My toe finally feels well enough for a hike. Blodgett Peak has been calling to me for months - especially since I learned there was a geocache on top. So I get up a bit early - early for a day off from work - and head out for a hike. I don't know how far I'll get - but I want to at least get to the top of Blodgett Peak. I've got about 8 geocaches I can try for, depending on how I do. A couple are up in Pike National Forrest, past Blodgett Peak. It is slower going than I expected. I spend more time than I wanted looking for the first 4 geocaches - I only found 2 of them. The trail is Icy and muddy. It is not a great trail - it is not well prepared like the trail going up Pikes Peak. It is very easy to lose the trail - subtle paths seem to go off in many directions. In many places, the trail seems to go up very steep, loose gravel. Step...

1000 Greatest Movies

Found on Misanthropic-Tendencies From the NY Times - The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made I've highlighted the ones I've seen from the list. As it is a big list, I've set it to be hidden. I've added some favorite quotes to ones I've seen. Show/Hide the list below A À Nous la Liberté (1932) About Schmidt (2002) Absence of Malice (1981) Adam’s Rib (1949) Adaptation (2002) The Adjuster (1991) The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) Affliction (1998) The African Queen (1952) L’Age d’Or (1930, reviewed 1964) Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972, reviewed 1977) A.I. (2001) Airplane! (1980) "I picked the wrong week to give up sniffing glue" Aladdin (1992) "Poof! Whaddya want?" Alexander Nevsky (1939) Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1975) Alice’s Restaurant (1969) Aliens (1986) '...In space no one can hear you scream.' All About Eve (1950) All About My Mother (1999) All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) All That...

I Voted, Colorado

Voting is different here in Colorado than it was back on the East Coast. In New Jersey, and I remember it was the same basic things when my parents voted in New York, the voting was in a mechanical voting booth. You would go to a desk and sign the big book. The would give you a sheet of paper. You would take the paper over to a voting machine. An assistant would take the paper and put it somewhere on the side of the machine. You would pull a big mechanical handle that would close the curtain behind you. Then you would flip the levers to indicate your vote. After, you would push the big handle, which would record your vote, reset the levers and open the curtain. Here in Colorado, the beginning of the process is the same. You wait on line and sign the big book. I went with my wife, as she dropped her car off for service. At first she was going to vote before she dropped off her car. But she called me to tell me the line was an hour long. After I picked her up at the shop,...