Currency
Working 12 hour days makes shopping at a government run institution, namely the Post Office, an impossibility. So I'm very thankful for the stamp dispensing machines. Despite its convenience and availability, there are a few disadvantages of the stamp machine, but the one that really annoys me is the bizarre fascination the Post Office has with the dollar coin.
No stamp machine I've ever run across will dispense four quarters in change. I used to end up with the Susan B Anthony coins, but now it's the bronze Pocohantas coin.
That ugly bronze coin is like the bastard gimp stepchild that nobody wants to own. Try to give that coin to anybody over 4 years old and you get a look of disdain and disappointment. Cashiers at stores will reluctantly take it, and then become baffled when they can't figure out which coin slot to plop it into.
Then there's the penny. You figure if the stamp machine is so fascinated with that ugly bronze coin, it'll accept a small copper coin, but that is not so. And I'm not sure what kind of security device has been built into those stamp dispensing machines. But whatever it is, if your paper bill shows any signs of wear, it's going to be rejected.
Even stranger, if the paper bill is too crisp and new, the machine will reject it.
I tried to buy some stamps today from a machine. $7.40. It took six of my one dollar bills and my quarters, but it wouldn't take my last dollar. No matter what I would do, the machine was convinced that my dollar bill was counterfeit. As if I would spend my life making counterfeit one dollar bills. So an attempt to get my money back from the machine was met with scolding beeps, and the little blue display bullied me. Saying that change will only be given with purchase. So I bought a stupid pack of post card stamps, and now I have a handful of bronze coins weighing me down.
No stamp machine I've ever run across will dispense four quarters in change. I used to end up with the Susan B Anthony coins, but now it's the bronze Pocohantas coin.
That ugly bronze coin is like the bastard gimp stepchild that nobody wants to own. Try to give that coin to anybody over 4 years old and you get a look of disdain and disappointment. Cashiers at stores will reluctantly take it, and then become baffled when they can't figure out which coin slot to plop it into.
Then there's the penny. You figure if the stamp machine is so fascinated with that ugly bronze coin, it'll accept a small copper coin, but that is not so. And I'm not sure what kind of security device has been built into those stamp dispensing machines. But whatever it is, if your paper bill shows any signs of wear, it's going to be rejected.
Even stranger, if the paper bill is too crisp and new, the machine will reject it.
I tried to buy some stamps today from a machine. $7.40. It took six of my one dollar bills and my quarters, but it wouldn't take my last dollar. No matter what I would do, the machine was convinced that my dollar bill was counterfeit. As if I would spend my life making counterfeit one dollar bills. So an attempt to get my money back from the machine was met with scolding beeps, and the little blue display bullied me. Saying that change will only be given with purchase. So I bought a stupid pack of post card stamps, and now I have a handful of bronze coins weighing me down.
posted by THW at 1:36 PM
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