Counterfeit Money

   Any one who has spent any amount of time handling money should know that there is a huge problem with counterfeit money. If your time handling money is part of your job, part of the way that you support your family, then you take measures to make sure that you don't take in that counterfeit money; all cashiers know this unless they are newbies.
   This need to thoroughly check the bills that pass through our hands, however, has a tendency to piss people off. Frankly, I am not sure why. I have been on the other side of that counter as a consumer/customer, and my panties don't get in a bunch when the cashier passes that counterfeit pen over my bill and then holds the bill up to the light. I know that they are just doing their job; checking for fake bills is actually part of our job and there are specific things we are looking for. The most well known is the little strip inside the bill, that says 100 if it's a 100 or twenty if it's a 20 (it's actually spelled out on the strip for the 20 and in numerals for the 100.) We also check for a number of other thinks, like color changing ink, matching faces, red and blue threads in the paper, and so-on and so-forth. The pen is a useful tool, but all the pen does is let us know that the bill is on the right type of paper, and, oh those creative criminals, they have found ways around that. So I understand that even if I just got that bill straight from the bank, the person I am handing the bill to still needs to check for authenticity. So  I don't waste my time getting all huffy and puffy about them doing their job.
    Even with all those measures, sometimes we still manage to take in fake bills. I know that I have seen fake bills in every thing from fake 100's all the way down to fake 10's. And I mean, really, if you have the time and energy to fake a 10, I wouldn't think that getting a job would be less work. But who knows what goes on in people's heads? Not me.
   But to get back to my original point, there are some people that really get steamed when we check their money. I know that I have even been told that my checking money is not legal (pure bullshit, folks, so whatever you have read online about that, disregard it. Marking a bill with a counterfeit pen is NOT considered defacing money.) I know some people think that we check because we are implying something about their character, but that is not the case at all.  We don't even know most of you. For my store, and for many others that I know of, checking money is standard procedure. We are supposed to check every single bill. So our checking isn't a sign that we are judging you, we check every one's bills from little old  ladies with glasses and polka dot dresses to big scary-looking dudes with facial piercings and tattoos (and in my own experience, the old ladies can be the meanest customers and the pierced, tatted up dudes can be huge teddy bears.) This is our job, and taking in a counterfeit bill can and often is counted as a shortage in our cash drawer, and frankly, too many incidents like that would lead to termination. I speak for myself here, but I have a child to support, so frankly, I can afford your offense, even though checking a bill is not meant to be offensive, but I cannot afford to take in those counterfeit bills.
  This is something that I do try to explain to people when they seem upset, or even just curious as to what I am looking for. Some people, once I have explained and even showed them what I am looking for in a bill, settle down and leave with an understanding that I am just doing my job. But other people: they are determined to take offense no matter what I say. But, as I just explained, this isn't something that I can stop doing. One fake 100 dollar bill in my drawer puts me over the shortage amount that I am allowed; I can't afford that. My family can't afford that. So checking for counterfeit money is something that is going to happen.
   On that note, they have just come out with new 100 dollar bills that are supposed to be much harder to counterfeit, and I actually had some pass through my hands to other day. The first one I handled just befuddled me. This poor man handed me this purplish bill with a metallic 3D strip down the center of the bill and I was looking at the thing thinking this man had handed me some weird kind of play money. After the man told me the money was real, I called to verify, and the bill was real. I felt bad for needing to check, because he seemed embarrassed, but again, having never seen the actually design, part of my job would be to verify that this was a real bill. I did apologize to him for needing to check.
   Anyway, the real point that I want to get across here is that fake money is a big problem for us people in the retail field, and we aren't looking to accuse. Even when we find fake money, we fully understand that in all likely-hood, the person who handed that bill to us had no clue and is a victim. I never look to accuse anyone of anything; that is part of someone else's job description, and they are welcome to it -- I want no part of that. But we do have to check, so all I have to say is that just going with the flow is going to be less stressful and drama filled for both of us. Isn't that something we all want?

Crazy, huh? I was thinking, "What kind of monopoly money is this?"

"Just A Cashier"

   I was working today, which is not that unusual in and of itself, as I work five days a week, but while I was working, I got one of those customers. One of those insufferable job snobs, who are so insecure about themselves that they feel the need to try and make an honest person earning an honest living feel badly about themselves. Regretfully, this happens often enough. But while I don't like ripping into those who need assistance programs such as food stamps, having been in that program myself some years back (so I know that not all people on this program are like this, not by a long shot), I really don't need the job snobbery from someone who whips out three effing food stamp cards to pay their grocery bill.
   But what makes today special, different from all the other times this has happened, was the fact that today I had a defender, and this defender wasn't myself. This defender was an elderly gentleman, who calmly stated to the woman with the three food stamp cards (something that really shouldn't happen. I had enough trouble getting one card when I needed it, and this woman pulls out three?)  "I was taught by my grandfather the value of hard work. And that if you can work hard and are willing to do whatever job it takes, you will never go hungry, nor will your family. I was taught that no job is shameful if it's honest."
   I am not sure, in this economy, that this statement about going hungry is entirely true, because there just aren't a ton of jobs, and no one can support a family on minimum wage without help of some kind, whether from family and friends or from the government. That being said, having someone stand up for me like that, someone I didn't even know, made me feel good. I am not ashamed of my job, and I wasn't going to give this woman the power to make me feel bad, but I see no reason not to allow the little bit of gladness that came over me when someone stuck up for me. And there is some sense to what he says. If you don't have a job, why can't you work somewhere like a grocery store or a fast food place until you find something better? It beats sitting around and not working at all, right? Wrong, in some people's minds. I don't understand that attitude. Work is work.
    I don't know everybody else's situation, but I can explain mine quite clearly. I have two degrees. I have an AAS  in Library and Information Services, and I have a BA in Health and Human Services. Both degrees looked good to me when I started my education. No, neither of them made megabucks, but all I have ever wanted was to be independent and able to pay my bills, so I was fine with a smaller income. The jobs interested me. Library because I love books and like working with people, human services because I feel that  I have a lot of experience under my belt in regards to partner abuse and living under the poverty line, and I like helping people come up with solutions to problems. (I did know that I needed a Master's in Human Services to do the stuff I want to do. That is a goal for the future; we all need goals to work towards.) Seems like a good fit, right? Well, as much as I like those things, I need to support my daughter.
   When I started working at the place that I work, the grocery store I won't name because I don't want to affiliate myself without permission, I thought this was a temp job while I put myself through college. Then I started working up through the pay raise system, and in order to take a job in either of my degree fields, a starting position, I would now have to take a pay cut. Also, while I was working my way up through the raise system at my cashier job, I became eligible for insurance, something that only takes about 25 hrs a week to be eligible for, when most companies insist on you making around 30 or more hrs to be eligible. Plus that insurance, covering both my daughter and I, including dental and vision, only costs $39.99 a month. That is the combined price for both my daughter and myself, and my insurance is pretty good. Those starter jobs in the fields I have degrees for have only offered part time work in my area, and offer no insurance benefits; a must for a single mom.
    Then there is the stock I own, because my store is employee owned, which I am counting as either part of my retirement, or part of my daughter's college expenses. Perks of my little cashier job, so-to-say. So while my job might not be the most intellectually stimulating, because all I do is check, that job has also allowed me to fill one of my goals: to be able to be independent and provide for my family without the use of government assistance programs. While my job may not require a degree and there are times when, yes, I am working on autopilot, I work with the best people. My coworkers are some of the best people I know, and I have my set of regular customers that I enjoy seeing and talking with while I ring up their order. I love the people I work with, even when I get that bad customer that makes my day suck. And when I get that bad customer, I know that when I get to the break room, there is going to be some coworker upstairs who will laugh about that experience with me. All jobs have things that suck, no matter what that job is. There is going to be some kind of suck factor; you kinda have to deal with that part of life and move on. I have, and I appreciate my job fully, and am thankful. I don't know what the future will bring, but if I work here for life I won't have done badly. Nothing shameful in providing a honest, quality life for your child.
   Even though my attempt to earn a Master's is on hold while I recover from the burnout I suffered while earning that BA, and while I pay off some of the student loans I have racked up, I am quite happy. Another perk of my job? Two weeks paid vacation; so while the woman with the multiple food stamps cards is doing whatever it is she does, I am getting ready for my vacation, and I am going to be visiting one of the most beautiful places in America: Yellowstone. To top that off, I'm going to be paid while I'm there.
  So think about that the next time you are looking down your nose at someone who is working an honest job. Things are not always what they seem to be, so don't make snap judgments; honest advice from an over-educated cashier.