I loaded my son in the car and we were off to the store. We bought our normal breakfast goodies and then made a quick jaunt across the street to Starbucks to pick up an upside-down venti nonfat latte (upside down means the whipped cream is on the bottom for you non-Starbucks goers) for my wife. I don’t even drink coffee, but I find myself spending $3.83 every time I go buy one for my wife, which happens numerous times per week.
I had $5 in my pocket along with a bunch of change left over from the grocery store, so I handed the Starbucks employee a crisp $5 bill along with eight cents. She looked at me and said, “It's $3.83, not $5.08.” I looked at my son then back to her and said, “Yeah, I know, I just don’t want the small change.” She said “okay,” then looked at the nickel and three pennies and asked, “Are the pennies for other people who are a penny short?”
I sat there perplexed for a minute. At this point, I wasn’t sure if maybe I gave her the wrong amount, so I said, “Let’s just ring it in and see what it gives me back.” She seemed bothered at this point, but rang it in and told me: “Your change is $1.25.”
When she said it, there was this tone like “See, you gave me too much.” I smiled and waited for my coffee. I tried to explain to my 11-year-old son what had just transpired, and I got even less of a response from him than I did the Starbucks employee. Why would I want $1.17 back when I can have $1.25? It's math, people.