Money

Just so you know what’s going on, I’m writing entries as I get time, which usually is the end of the day, and posting when I have internet service, which is kind of intermittent. So, you may see things a day or two late, but I’ll do the best I can.

Okay, I guess I’ll keep this to one topic per entry. This entry’s topic is money.

While I was sitting in the Philadelphia International Airport for eight hours on Wednesday night (another story for another entry), I saw the oddest transaction. A man had a small bag of Cheetos. This was a little after midnight and all of the stores in the airport were closed and so he was happy to have these Cheetos. His friend wanted the Cheetos and offered to buy them from him. In response, he asked her how much American currency she had remaining. She counted out $17.20. He then offered to sell her the Cheetos for the grand total of $17.20. She laughed, but he was serious. She then thought for a second and decided that a bag of Cheetos after midnight in Philadelphia International Airport and no longer needing to exchange her American currency was worth $17.20 to her.

I thought this was silly when I saw it. Last night, however, I got food and beer at a bar in London and realized that I am not that far from her. I ordered and it the total came to 12 pounds 90. (I can’t find the pound symbol on my computer and I’m not looking anymore.) I gave her a twenty and she gave me a slip of paper and some coins.

I’m good at figuring out money. When I pay at a grocery store, I know exactly how much change I’ve received by the way it feels when it hits my hand. I can count American currency by smell. Whether or not I received 7.10 pounds from the waitress at the bar last night, I have no idea. I would’ve had to sit there and go through coin-by-coin, in bad light, to find out for sure. I did notice that the slip of paper that she handed me had a “5” on it. Assuming it was a five-pound note, I guess there’s a limit to how badly I could have been cheated.

When I’m on my way back, I don’t think I’ll pay ten pounds for a little bag of Cheetos, no matter how hungry I am, but I’m not as sure as I was Wednesday night.