A Post Script to the British Pound Stirling

My habit has always get rid of change that collects in my pocket whenever I get to the Checkout lane. Otherwise, I'd wind up with several dollars worth of coins weighing me down. Today, I've had to relearn [again] that this habit doesn't work over here in England. This morning, I started out with a £10 note. When I got on the bus, I asked for a Day Pass so that I wouldn't be constantly buying tickets every time I got on a bus. So when I forked over the £10 note, the driver duly made change, all of it in coins, mostly Pound coins. One fact I forgot to mention is that some of their coins, especially the Pound coins are heavy. So when I got to my destination, the MetroCentre, I went in to the McDonald's to buy a meal and I paid for it with all those pound coins.

After finishing my meal and seeing that I had a little time before catching my next bus, I went into a bookstore and found a book for £2 that I was interested in buying. At the cash register, I found that I had not enough change to buy the book and as I was getting out my debit card, the cashier told me that I couldn't use my card there for purchases of less than £10s. However, she told me that there was a cash machine just around the corner beyond the McDonald's if I wanted to get the necessary cash. So off I dashed to get another £10 note to purchase the book. What a hassle!