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Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Maribor, Slovenia.
Portoroz, Slovenia.
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This happens to me a lot when I go shopping here:
SALESPERSON: “That’ll be 465 tolars.”
MICHAEL (pays with 1000)
SALESPERSON: “Do you have 500?”
MICHAEL: “No, sorry.”
SALESPERSON (angry): “How about 65?”
MICHAEL: “Nope, sorry.”
SALESPERSON (angrier): “Five?”
MICHAEL: “Sorry.”
SALESPERSON (collects the change in silent rage)
Is it just me? Lately I seem to be spending a lot of my shopping time explaining what bills I have (or don’t have) in my wallet. And I rarely seem to have what people need, which always makes them angry.
Sometimes this can be a good thing, though. I remember going to a store once to buy some envelopes. The saleslady was pretty rude, even by Slovenian standards. I urgently needed the envelopes, though, so instead of walking out I waited until I got to the register and then played my trump card: the purple monster known as the 10.000 SIT note. I then eagerly waited for her questions (”Do you have anything smaller?” “Do you have…?”) and triumphantly replied: “No!” to the entire batch. She had to go crack open another register to gather the necessary change. And I left the store feeling great.
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They do that in Poland a lot. Everytime you get to the till, they’re asking you for change. My friend gets furious and mutters in English “Oh, you want change do you? You’ve only got a drawer-full of change, you old grumpy bat…but change, eh? what do you think I am, a walking bank, you surly cow!”
It must be a post-Communist thing, I guess.
I think this is an overall European practice. Everywhere from the UK to Germany to Spain to wherever, I find that people are very conscientious about disposing of all their spare change at the till. This is in total marked contrast to North Americans who are inclined to pay for everything with an ATM-disease-induced $20 bill. On the one hand, you do feel that you’re doing the salesperson an unnecessary service. On the other though, you never have to deal with filling up whole empty water bottles with unwanted pence/cent/stottin!
I’ve seen this all over Europe, not just ex-communist countries. I do get a couple of odd looks from cashiers in the USA when I bother getting change from my wallet. It especially pisses them off if they had already punched in my $20 and the computer already calculated how much they need to give me back. Then I start with my small change additions, because I hate getting all the little copper coins, but it throws them off completely. It seems like the US cashiers can’t handle basic math, since the computer does everything for them.
I love the term “Purple Monster” . I’m gonna use it myself ( patent pending ). LOL
Yep, happens a lot everywhere. But I stopped using cash almost entirely, so wherever I can, I pay with my dear Visa.
What do you mean by “rude, even by Slovenian standards”?