Change you can believe in
September 8, 2011
People have issues with change. And I’m not talking the: we-can’t-be-in-this-long-distance-relationship-anymore-because-you-joined-a-cult-while-I-was-away kind of change.
I’m talking the quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies kind.
This one time I was broke.
Well, often times, lack of money seems to be my main problem. But this time I decided to solve my problem by collecting loose change I found around my house. As I counted it at work, like Scrooge: bent over a desk in deep concentration, muttering numbers inaudibly, occasionally yelling at my frog and rat employees to get back to work, (No, wait, that’s “The Muppet Christmas Carol.”), my fellow work-studier shot me looks of disgust.
When I mentioned that I was going to use my change to buy coffee that day, she offered to pay me $5 for it, so I wouldn’t; which is ridiculous, because – change counts as money just as much as dollars – she was going to pay me money for my money.
There is one reason I think my co-worker’s anxiety makes sense – the plight of cashiers. I worked at Sara’s for four years, so I feel their pain keenly.
But then, exchanging change is probably no slower than the bank card transaction I usually perform to buy stuff, what with the various steps of showing my I.D., swiping, being cross-examined with a ton of questions on the screen and signing the receipt.
And the annoyance-for-cashiers thing doesn’t explain why vending machines don’t accept some change. Mostly, they seem to hate pennies. Where else am I supposed to use 1 cent?
When I grow up I’m going to open a store where I only accept pennies. Some might say, “Tessy when you grow up, you may not be very successful.” But I’m not drinking that hater-ade. By the way, if you want to buy hater or Gatorade from my store, bring pennies.
Worse than penny-hating machines, are the ones that won’t accept dimes and nickels. Pretty soon the only valuable coin will be a quarter. And I suppose the way I feel about quarters adds to its ego.
When I get a quarter back from a cashier – or just find a quarter – I see real potential.
But the other types of change might feel neglected. So I’m standing up for change.
I say, bring me your dimes, your nickels, your pennies, yearning to be spent.
I’m going to change the world, by changing the way the world sees change.
