The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #173257   Message #4201715
Posted By: Stilly River Sage
28-Apr-24 - 11:17 AM
Thread Name: BS: How did the pandemic down time benefit you?
Subject: RE: BS: How did the pandemic down time benefit you?
During COVID, when we were trying to reduce the amount of stuff we carried around to avoid carrying the (then unknown) virus into the house, I trimmed my wallet down to a small leather folder for my driver's license, a credit card, and maybe one or two other cards. It had room for a few bills but no coins. That went into a slim nylon pouch with a long strap that had room for my phone, a couple of writing utensils, and a small notebook. I struggled with change for a while and finally just gave up and paid for many things with the card instead of bills, and if I was handed coins as change I put them in my back pocket. All coins were dropped in a can in the kitchen.

My pocketbook is back to normal size and the current wallet is back to it's old larger self and though it has a small zip compartment for a few coins I still rarely use them. Most coins go from the pants pocket into the can. Some stores (convenience in particular) are less likely to give the last 5 cents of change, just rounding up. And not asking for coins to cover the 5 or 10 cents of a purchase, rounding down. It must be harder on the till count, but retail businesses seem to have concluded that the fuss of handling coins is a waste of time and must have built wiggle-room into the shift-end count.