February 5th, 2013
50 Cent Piece
My husband witnessed this while in the checkout line at Walmart:
Lady in front of him had purchases totaling 90 cents. She gave the cashier a 50 cent piece, 3 quarters, a dime and 5 pennies. Keep the denominations in mind. That is key.
Cashier: What’s this?
Lady: It is a 50 cent piece.
Cashier (examines it with a puzzled look): Ummm…
Lady: Yeah, that’s 50. And (counting the QUARTERS) 60, 70, 80. And this makes 85 (adding the DIME). 86, 87, 88, 89, 90 (counting the pennies..she at least counted those correctly).
Cashier (Holding up one of the quarters): I can’t accept this.
Lady: Why?
Cashier: It isn’t US currency. It says it is from Indiana.
My husband stood for a few minutes watching in disbelief as the cashier wouldn’t accept the quarter and neither the cashier nor the lady realized the coins actually added up to $1.40. Finally Jim couldn’t stand it any longer. He handed the 50 cent piece and 2 quarters to the cashier and said “This is $1. Give her 10 cents back. She can keep her Indiana money.”
50 Cent Piece,
9 Comments, Comment or Ping
I had a similar “math genius” event while at the customer service register of a Walmart a few months back.
A lady wanted to buy a bed in a bag. The item was $99.99. Because the bag’s zipper was broken, she wanted a discount.
The fella at the register said he could take 10% off. The customer agreed to that. He then asked the manager to ring up the sale because he could not figure out what 10% of $99.99 was.
February 5th, 2013
Calling BS on this one. How did “JIm” end up with the money in his hands instead of the person in front of him. How much was “Jim” invading the other customers personal space by standing so close to her that he could actually see what denomination of coins were being used. AND last but certainly not least, if Jim were so smart why didn’t he just hand the customer her 50 cent piece back or TWO of her quarters and pay exact change? Plus why was the title of this 50 cent piece when the subject was clearly the Indiana quarter?? OH and who’s not seen those state quarter yet since they’ve been out since 2000???? Not even a well thought out BS story.
February 5th, 2013
Skeptical, you’re outright wrong. When at WallyWorld you can easily stand close enough to see what coins the other person is putting down. As for how Jim ended up with the money in his hands, that’s very easy — he reaced around the first customer, picked up the coins, and handed them to teh cashier. Geez, now POWM are posting as commenters!
February 6th, 2013
I agree with SKEPTICAL.
February 6th, 2013
I’ve helped people make change before. If you do it nicely, they’ll be grateful.
February 6th, 2013
I will just bet if you asked the cashier , to name one of 50cent’s songs, she could.
February 6th, 2013
considering the coins could be combined to total 90 cents why was change nescessary? the 3 stooges!
February 7th, 2013
Am I the only one who is scratching their head at the math involved here? The lady has a 50-cent piece, 3 quarters, a dime, and 4 pennies…that equals to $1.39 not .90 cents. Did you maybe mean a 50-cent piece, 3 dimes, a nickel, and 5 pennies? I think you need to re-learn the US demonination system before criticizing walmart cashiers.
March 27th, 2013
“the US demonination system”
Satanic Spondulix. It’ll make you think that the number is 4, when the story says 5.
March 30th, 2013
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