Change is an issue in Israel. A weird issue.
The prices of things here are weirdly precise: my shoes, for example, cost 374.90
"Alright," you say, "it's that 0.9 trick to make shit look cheaper and entice you to buy it, I get the picture", but no, it's worse.
Bread is 6.60.
Fancy bread that lasts for like a month and doesn't get moldy is 45.60.
I may be eating cancerogens.
Milk is 5.40.
Snickers bars can be between 3.30 and 7.80.
EVEN FUCKING CARS are like this! I don't buy cars, but my boss brags about how he bought a second hand Mazda for 54871.30! He doesn't say 54000 or 54800 like a normal person, he says the exact number.
As a result my left buttcheek is protected by an artillery proof slab of metal. Everybody has exact change at all times and are extremely vigilant about giving it to you.
Reading
@GoodPersonEffed 's take (and laughing my ass off at "tuk-tuk"
), he might consider Israel a heaven!
"Exact change?! AT ALL TIMES?! CUT MY DICK AND LET ME IN!!!"
Or if they're a woman, "hold on, imma grow a dick for you to cut! LET ME IIIINNN!!!"
But this is just the first half of the problem.
Nobody wants exact change.
If you want some bread, you hand over 7 shekels, the cashier's eyes light up with child-like glee as he hands you four 10 aggorot (0.4 shekelsp coins. You hand over a tenner? Even better!
20 shekel bill? "OMFG I LOVE YOU!!!"
The 20 shekel bill is the most popular, most beloved piece of currency in grocery shops.
If you give a 50, for a loaf of bread, that's fine too, but the cashier will not be happy to part with his twenties.
God forbid you hand exactly 6.60, though.
Legally, the cashier must accept this, and he will, but he sure as hell will fail counting it right the first time.
The cashier might ask if you have a tenner if you hand them 7 shekels, but that's pretty rare.
I am not kidding, I have about 5kg of brass or copper in a box at home. I'm trying to give exact change, but I take in more than I get out.
I will sometimes buy a coke using 10 aggorot coins. I need to do it at fucking night so that the owner doesn't see me! Paying for something strictly in 10 aggorot coins counts as harassment, even in a vending machine.
I live near A FUCKING SAINT. There's a guy who for whatever reason loves 10 aggorot coins and hates bills. He doesn't look like a serial killer, but he might be. We agreed that once a month I'll bring him all my aggorot and halves, and he'll give me bills.
There's a nagging feeling I'm missing something here, though. The guy could be just batshit crazy, and that's fine too.