No one likes being held to a double standard, but the alleged apathetic staff of a coffee shop in North Carolina didn’t seem to understand that. Reddit user Historical_Purple124 shared his experience at this cafe on r/mildlyinfuriating, where he explained that he had been short-changed deliberately right after the worker “held him to pennies.”
The order had come to $4.01, but since he didn’t have a penny, Historical Purple just paid with a ten-dollar bill. You can imagine his surprise when the cashier handed him change 5 cents short.
“She didn’t even acknowledge it or say she was rounding down my change. She just hands me 4 cents less and walks away,” Historical Purple recalled in frustration. Apparently, the cash register was out of pennies.
He then questioned the American system as a whole: “It’s just like, why are we still charging people in 1 cent increments if we don’t have the right change to give people back?” Of course, he admits this is a first-world problem for sure, but it’s still an annoyance nonetheless.
Reddit Was on the Customer’s Side, And Supported His Calling Out the North Carolina Cafe
Over ten thousand Redditors also felt the same after reading his story. “It’s not even about the 4 cents, it’s the fact they expected exact change from you but not from themselves,” remarked a user. “The coffee shop broke North Carolina law because they are supposed to be rounding down in this case,” added another commenter.
“Out of principle, I would refuse to leave until I receive my full change. If they are so adamant over $0.01 then you need to adamant over $0.04,” suggested a third.
For clarification, Historical Purple added that he wasn’t even paying the worker to make him a coffee or anything of the sort; as he claims, then he wouldn’t have minded adding in a tip. “This $4 was for putting a muffin in a bag,” he sighed. “Unless there’s direct service, my dollar is getting split 5 ways for a tip on something you just HANDED to me? They don’t even MAKE THEIR OWN MUFFINS.”
One comment accused this being the fault of President Trump for discontinuing the penny. However, this issue with the North Carolina coffee shop and its customer seems more personally related to ignorance, a lack of concern, or both.
