No. 523 - HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A $2 BILL?

No. 523

Jim Davidson Ñ NEWSPAPER COLUMN

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A $2 BILL?

My aunt sent me something the other day that would have been hilarious if the subject matter had not been so serious. It is the story of a young man working in a fast food restaurant who was given a $2 bill by one of his customers. The only problem was that this young man had never seen a $2 bill and he did not know how to handle it.
If you work in a fast food restaurant and you don't know how to handle something, what is the first thing you should do? Go to your manager, right? What if the manager has never seen a $2 bill? What do you do then? Now that you have the picture, allow me to give you a portion of the conversation that followed.
It begins, "I am still laughing!! Many of today's youth are terribly challenged without a calculator or computer to tell them what to do." To restate a point I made earlier, the story is funny, lack of education is not funny. "On my way home from work, I stopped at Taco Bell (may as well give them some free advertising but it could have been any fast food restaurant) for a quick bite to eat. In my billfold are a $50 bill and a $2 bill. I figure that with a $2 bill, I can get something to eat and not have to worry about anyone getting irritated at me for trying to break a $50 bill.
Me: "Hi, I'd like one seven-layer burrito please, to go." Server: "That'll be $1.04. Eat in?" Me: "No, it's to go." At this point, I open my billfold and hand him the $2 bill. He looks at it kind of funny. Server: "Uh, hang on a sec, I'll be right back." He goes to talk with his manager, who is still within my earshot. The following conversation occurs between the two of them: Server: "Hey you ever see a $2 bill?" Manager: "No. A what?" Server: "A $2 bill. This guy just gave it to me." Manager: "Ask for something else. There's no such thing as a $2 bill." Server: "Yeah, thought so."
He comes back to me and says, "We don't take these. Do you have anything else?" Me: "Just this fifty. You don't take $2 bills? Why?" Server: "I don't know." Me: "See here where it says legal tender?" Server: "Yeah." Me: "So, why won't you take it?" Server: "Well, hang on a sec." He goes back to the manager, who has been watching me like I am a shoplifter, and says to him, "He says I have to take it." Manager: "Doesn't he have anything else?" Server: "Yeah, a fifty. I'll get it and you can open the safe and get change."
Manager: "I'm not opening the safe with him in here." Server: "What should I do?" Manager: "Tell him to come back later when he has real money." Server: "I can't tell him that! You tell him." Manager: "Just tell him." Server: "No way! This is weird. I'm going in back." The manager approaches me and says, "I'm sorry, but we don't take big bills this time of night." Me: "It's only seven o'clock! Well then, here's a $2 bill." Manager: "We don't take those either." Me: "Why not?" Manager: "I think you know why." Me: "No, really É tell me why." Manager: "Please leave before I call Mall Security." Me: "Excuse me." Manager: "Please leave before I call Mall Security."
Me: "What on earth for?" Manager: "Please, sir." Me: "Uh, go ahead, call them." Manager: Would you please just leave?" Me: "No." Manager: "Fine É have it your way then." Me: "Hey, that's Burger King, isn't it?"
At this point the manager calls security and a few minutes later a security guard arrives. At this point the customer is in luck. The security guard finally convinces the manager that there really is a $2 bill and the customer gets his burrito, a small drink and he even throws in some cinnamon thingies for free."
For young people who may not know, there really is a $2 bill. Over the years I have had a lot of them, although it's been a while since I have seen or owned one. While this is not a life or death issue, if you work in a retail business of some kind, it would be helpful to know that.
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(EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Davidson is a motivational speaker and syndicated columnist. You may contact him at 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)