Ever notice how people hand each other cash? I do.
Yes, money is the coins and bills that buy us stuff and boomerang back—hopefully—when we get paid. But money also floats on the wings of personal interaction, the one-on-one exchange that happens when we hand someone cash.
Sometimes if I’m in a rush I’m tempted to put the money on the counter instead of placing it directly into the hands of the cashier. But since I’ve been paying attention I remember to give it directly into the hand. Placing money in someone’s hand just feels right, complete. And it says something about my relationship with that person and how much I respect money.
I also notice how a cashier hands me change. Yesterday I was in CVS buying body lotion and the lone cashier (all the other check-outs were self-serve where no money changes hands) grabbed my bills and threw them on top of his open register drawer. He treated the cash like trash to be gotten rid of. He was otherwise courteous but I couldn’t help but wonder how he felt about his job, the people he meets, and almighty buck.
There’s a pizzeria near my house I’ve stopped going to because the guys behind the counter manhandle the cash, practically shoving change at customers, dismissing them out of the store.
How we handle money also extends to placing cash in a wallet—neatly, with all bills facing one way, cavalierly, or crumbled, never making it into the wallet. And many Millennials, Gen-Xers, and lots of others eschew cash, using debit cards instead.
So what’s your style? Are you a smoother-outer of bills or crumpler? Do you place money on the counter or into the palm? Share you money touch.
Nice piece. I’ve been thinking a lot about my/our relationship to money recently. My sister, who puts a lot of weight in vibration, says when she pays for things, she offers the money in gratitude–that she has it and that she can purchase the things she needs with it. I have a friend who says she has never in her life worried about money; it just comes to her. She’s not wealthy; she doesn’t come from privilege, she just always has enough. When I count cash, I straighten it and face the bills, but my wallet is filled with little folded wads of cash from different budget accounts that I’m keeping separate–something of a mess. I am continually finding money I didn’t remember I had. I recently found $15 in my washing machine that had fallen out of a pair of jeans I’d just washed. I felt like I’d won the lottery. Lately, I’ve been trying to reinvent my relationship with money–to not be hung up on it, to give and receive it with gratitude and to know that I always will have enough. Not being afraid of being without money is difficult, but I’m doing the work.
Hey Gillian,
Thanks so much for the comment and reminding me about finding cash in your pocket! Another great source of abundance. Sounds like you are doing great; it’s really hard not to worry about money. And you’re giving me ideas for future blog posts: about money and fear. An endless, fascinating subject.
I clearly remain a plastic kinda girl. I am just no good with straightening, organizing and folding bills. I have enough change on the bottom of my bag to feed a small third world country. Whether something cost $1.99 or $1.05 I still present two singles, accept my handful of change and dump the rest into my bag to avoid the change-purse shuffle at the register. Once every so often, usually when the strap of my bag is slicing through my shoulder, I clean out my bag and house the loose change in some container that I promise myself will be brought to the bank where I specifically opened an account with a coin counting machine. More often than not I give it to my grandsons to sort and roll and enjoy. I am annoyed more often than not when the person ahead of me is arraying, arranging and assembling their bills into cohesive piles only to be stuffed into a wallet while my Haagen Daz melts.
I love this! Thanks for commenting.
Love hearing about your money touch!
This made me smile. I hope I’m not too obsessive, but I always have to have my bills all facing the same way and in order, smallest to largest, in my wallet. I also like to use exact change whenever I have it. I blame these eccentricities on having worked as a bank teller for a couple of years after college. I would never pay a cashier by laying my money down on the counter, that’s inconsiderate as it requires them to make the extra effort of picking it up and also implies you don’t want to touch them. Likewise, I always hold out my hand to receive the change.
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