Pinoys and Coins

I just don't get it, really. The cashiers at most of the convenience/department stores and restaurants here in the Philippines are obsessed with giving coins for change, even when I know for sure that they have bigger denominations (paper-based ones, of course) inside their cashier machines. I might be wrong here, and they might have some purpose in giving coins, but really why would you want to give out your smaller denominations if you have a bigger one that would suffice? Don't cashiers want to keep their smaller denominations for those many cases where they need them? That's how I see it and once again, I might be missing out on some purpose, but getting lots of coins for change is starting to really get on my nerves.

I have my own reason as to why I don't like this. Coins can really damage wallets, and too much coins can make that happen a lot faster. This, along with my reasoning above, adds to my growing irritation. Top that off with the fact that I tried to ask nicely for a bigger denomination and the cashier gave a curt reply that no, they don't have bigger denominations (which is bull-fucking-shit), really got me going. So, instead of getting 20 Pesos bill I got four 5-peso coins. Crap.

Okay, rewind that a bit.

I was buying a nice can of Nescafe coffee worth 32 pesos. I have a 50-peso bill in my wallet. Knowing that if I don't do anything bout it I'll be getting (if I'm lucky) a change of one 10-peso coin, one 5-peso coin, and three 1-peso coins (if not lucky, maybe three 5-peso coins and three 1-peso coins, and believe me it can go as bad as receiving eighteen 1-peso coins). The prospect of my wallet having to nurse 5 more coins worth of change inside its already bulging space is frightening, and since I don't have two 1-peso coins and only have some 5-peso coins, I decided to give the cashier one 50-peso bill and one 5-peso coin, so that I would be getting a change of one 20-peso bill and three 1-peso coins. Better than 5 coins, right? And then it happened. Fucking dumb-ass guy.

And, c'mon, cashiers have a better chance in exchanging all those coins. I mean, don't people with businesses like these have a bigger chance than an average Joe like me in going to the banks and exchanging all those stoopid coins for bigger denoms? Don't they do that on a daily basis? Don't they have a central bank where they regulate this shit? Or is it because they want to promote charity so that the average Joe like me have small change to give to beggars? I'm trying to look at the bright side here...but the brighter side still looks dim to me...

When you really think about it, it's no biggie, really, but still it gets on my nerves. I just see no point in giving out smaller denominations while bigger ones still suffice (AND available). Like I said, if I'm a cashier (which I am not, and that's why I might have missed out on some explanation as to why they give out coins/smaller denominations first), I would try using my bigger denominations if I can and hold on to the smaller ones for cases where they are truly needed. I love my wallet (and no, it's not LV or any of those stoopid expensive brands) and I would dearly love to see it lasts for a long time by not taking in too much coins.

Maybe it's this night shift that gets me pretty cranky about small, inconsequential stuff. Threw the coins inside one of the pockets in my bag instead. I'd probably forgot about them later on. These coins would happily build a nest inside my dark, dingy bag and start proliferating like cockroaches in dark, dingy places.

And I can't believe this rant post is actually longer than some of my movie reviews...

I definitely need more sleep.