I am officially old.
Yes, there seems to be a deepening gap between me and the younger generations. I've always prided myself on being able to understand and interpret the actions of youth. That is until last week when I had a frustrating experience with a young cashier which left me longing for the good ol'days. Actually, it was my husband who helped me recognize the reality of the situation as I bitterly complained to him. His matter-of-fact response was, "I think you're just getting old".
The scenario I encountered involved a cash transaction. If you're older than 40, I'll bet you can predict what I'm going to say. That's because you too will remember when cash was 'King' and cashiers knew what to do with it, thus their job title 'cash' ier.
I was shopping at a Dollar Store where you'd think a greater percentage of transactions occur in cash as opposed to debit or credit. I was purchasing a few Halloween costume supplies and my bill came to $8.21 which I paid for with a $20 bill. The cashier, in his late teens and excited to have a part time job, punched in a series of button entries on the register, put my money in the till, and then poured a pile of change into my extended palm. Annoyance began to simmer as I explained to the young fellow that I had paid with a twenty not a $10 bill and, furthermore, if he had counted the change back to me, he may have realized his mistake. He looked at me with a confused and reddening face before glancing nervously at the lineup of people behind me. I quickly realized that he had no idea what I was talking about. In my youth, I worked as a server in various restaurants which is where I learned the basics of working with a cash float and till. And so, I took the teachable moment to help him, as his training manager should have done, on the very basics of cash registration.
Rule #1: Do not place cash in the till until AFTER the transaction is complete. Simply place the cash on top of the cash tray, perpendicular to or above the slots, so that both the customer and the cashier can remember how much money was paid. This avoids a possible debate with the customer and/or a cash register that's out by a few bucks at the end of the shift. Rule #2: Although we live in the age of plastic purchasing with cards or electronic devices, retailers still need to train staff on how to work with cash. You can YouTube or Google the process of counting change back to customers with video and photo tutorials if you are uncertain. The basic premise is to start at the purchase price and add money, in the denominations that make sense, up to the amount that the customer paid. This translates into a verbal response to your customer something like this, "Your total was $8.21 rounded down to the closest nickel is $8.20 (no more pennies), plus 80 cents in change (place just the change in customer's hand) makes $9, and a loonie (place the $1 coin in the customer's hand) makes $10, and $10 (place the $10 bill on top of the change in the customer's hand) equals $20". I don't believe that counting out every nickel and dime is necessary but it is more than common courtesy to count out the bills and bulk change. Being able to count back change and skillfully handle cash also increases the customer's comfort, it builds trust, shows respect to the buyer, and demonstrates that the cashier is highly capable within their position.
Until next week, stay in the black and keep coming back.
