Funny Money

  There was this dollar coin in the cash drawer of a store the other day.
  "If you don't want that in your drawer I'll take it in my change," I said to the cashier.
  It ended up in my pocket.
  Every time I see one of these a couple of things come to mind...one is how they need to get out and get into circulation...another is how they, like a lot of stuff in our country right now, became a political battleground a few years back...and how I've run into people who have jobs, pay taxes, vote and are cock-sure on what it takes to make the world run their way but aren't familiar with their own country's money.
  Case in point: A few years ago I was rolling west on Interstate 10 in Louisiana when I stopped in a fast food joint in Lake Charles to get some munchies. I handed the young woman behind the counter three $2 bills.
  The young woman looked at me, looked at the money, looked at me then said, “One moment please.” She turned and called some guy’s name and this dude with a different colored outfit complete with tie comes to the counter.
  “I think he just handed me some fake money,” she tried whispering to the man. I say “tried whispering” because I could hear her. She showed him the $2 bills.
  The man started laughing.
  “No, Darlene,” he said. “I reckon you’ve never seen a $2 bill. They’re okay.”
  Then about 6 years ago I happened on another person here in town who also wasn’t familiar with some of our country’s money.
  It happened when The Lady of the House and I were doing our regular Saturday yard sale-ing. I handed a woman two freshly minted gold dollars to pay for an item.
  "What is this, foreign money?" she asked
  I didn’t know what to think.
  She looked to be an intelligent person, looked like she might be a working professional like a teacher, office manager, something like that...to me she had the air of a business professional.
  "Those are gold dollars, they’ve been around for 10 or 12 years, that's Sacagawea...."
"Saca...what?" she interrupts, "So these are foreign, I'm not taking them."
  "Those are U.S. legal tender ma'am," I said.
  "I’m not taking them, I don't believe you."
  There's a saying from back east in Hillbillyland: "Don't get into a pissin' contest with a pole-cat."
  I decided that was good advice right then.
  I took them back and presented her with a $20 bill to pay for my stuff.
  "Don't you have anything smaller?"
  I just smiled.
  Later, The Lady of the House told me not to take the rejection of my dollars personally.
  “Some people,” she said, “Are just…you know…”

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