Could Have Been An Expensive Cup Of Coffee
OK quick eye test here. I’m sure every single one of you noticed immediately that these were photos of two different denominations of bank notes, didn’t you?
Of course you did, and I am also pretty sure a lot of you are going to say, "Oh, I would never mistake one for another .. who could be so stupid"?
Well I’ll give you a clue ladies and gents, some of us have 62 year-old eyes and we weren’t that smart in the first place. I actually hate having the 1,000 peso notes in my wallet (about $24.67 USD at today’s rate) … well I don’t hate having them there, I can find a use for all I can get my hands on, but they are a nuisance in that they are often too big for stores to cash, clerks are always examining them with magnifying glasses to see if they’re counterfeit and the fact is that one ‘zero’ difference just isn’t enough to make them stand out.
Anyway today’s story, sadly, is about another anonymous Filipino worker … and I can’t go back to the place where it happened and try to find the lady because the establishment is all closed up now. About a year ago I was in our local SM mall and I passed this Australian coffee shop outlet that used to be there. Can’t even remember what it was that caught my eye but some sweet that they ha don special sounded really good with a cup of fresh, real brewed coffee, so I wen tin and plunked down in a chair.
The server was a pleasant lady … age guesstimate maybe 20 or 22 years old, not particularly interested in me as either a customer or an American curiosity piece, so she was courteous and efficient in getting me my coffee and cake but not very personable or friendly.
The coffee wasn’t bad, the cake was ok and after a bit it was time for me to make the universal little square formed with the forefinger and thumb of both hands to the girl … in Asia, if you don’t ask for your bill you’ll never get it.
The lady came by right away and laid the little tray on my table with the amount due of P185. I reached in my wallet, quickly dug out two 100 pesos notes and dropped them on the tray, figuring to leave the p15 change as a tip. In the Philippines a small ’round-up tip is plenty, they don’t have the kind of legalized sxtrotion for tips that’s common in the US.
I was gathering my shopping bags into one hand and pushing back my chair when I heard this girl’s voice, in a slightly annoyed tone… "Sir, you bill is only P185". In one had she held the tray with the bill and one 1,000 pesos note, in her other hand she was holding the second P1,000 note out to me, sort of with the attitude of, "you can’t really be that dumb, can you"?
Well I certainly had been that dumb. I had thoughtlessly placed two P1,000 notes on the tray thinking they were p100 notes, and if I had nit had bags to collect I would have been long out the door, unintentionally leaving the waitress a P1815 tip for a cup of coffee and a piece of cake.
I just sort of sat there, probably looking as dumb as I felt until she came back with the tray with the correct P815 pesos on it. placed it on the table and turned away.
So here’s the question for the day … how much would you have left on that tray if this incident had happened to you?
Question 2, for extra credit … on the P100 note you can dimly see two different flags. Name the countries.
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Yes, That happen to me one time on my way back home from our meeting and We had to drink a little failing to notice the time that it was already 1:00Am.I had to ride a Taxi cab and use two P100.00 (In my mind)pesos never getting the change.My fare registered P180.00. When I waked up and check my wallet that morning,I am poorer by P1,000.00.Lucky driver!
Hi, thanks for visiting and for your story … I’m sure most people figured that’s what would have happened to me. So what’s your answer to my question? I’m going to tell what I left but I’m trying to get a sense for what others would have done when finding this lovely, honest waitress.
I think I would have left her a P100.00 tip.
My eyeballs are 61, I don’t even see any flags.
Dan
P 100 would have been fine … I’ll wait for some more opinion before I reveal what i did leave.
My eyes are a year older and I can see the flags … although I also have notes in my pocket to pull out. I thought when you clicked on the image they would get bigger but I obviously screwed something up when I uploaded. Better image coming. The point of the question is, how many countries can anybody name that have the national flag (ensign) of another country on their currency? Pretty few I would wager … and since we’re talking about the Philippines you ought to be able to guess the second country pretty easily…
Thanks for coming by and for commenting.
I would have left her either P50 or P100 as the mood moved me.
Gene
Hi Gene, thanks for dropping by and for the comment. P50? Well that;s fine I guess, but my thought was that this girl already had mt 2,000 pesos in her hand and already _knew_ I had made the mistake and could have got away Scot free had she wanted to, so I was a little more generous …. any more entries?
I see an American Flag. Since she saved you P1815, I would have gave her a 10% finders fee… P180?
Mark
Good eye, Mark. yes the P 100 note (slang name “ube” because of its purple tint) is the only currency I have ever used which has the issuing country’s flag (common, of course) and another country’s flag in the same picture … I guess a celbraton/recognition of the American years as part of the Filipino heritage … I sure did adouble take the first time I saw one … could you imagine a US note with a Philippine flag on it, or perhaps the Union Jack?
And you were the closest so far on my tip … I was more generous than most,I guess, I picked up the p500 pesos note from the tray that held the correct P815 and left the rest … hope the girl bought something nice for herself with it.
many years ago, i once left a $100 bill for a $1 mrs. fields cookie at the mall. being a kid tourist then, having US bills in the same color can be confusing when you are used to color coded peso bills (they’re all green!).
luckily, the store attendant spotted my mistake for me. i was around 14 years old then, so age or international borders can spark similar mistakes.
by the way, i never told my parents about my near mistake as i walked back holding the same so-called $100 cookie. they would have revoked my spending rights right there.
Hi macky, thanks for dropping by and for your interesting comment. A fellow I used to work with in the US … you might say he was a bit on the ‘economy-minded’ side … won a free bus trip to a casino which included dinner. The guests were reminded that even though the dinner was free the wait staff worked for tips alone, so please don’t forget them. My orgainzed friend put a dollar bill and a twenty in his wallet .. the $1 (yes one whole dollar) for the dinner tip and the $20 to buy chips with. Well, as you might have guessed, when he finished dinner and went to the cashier for chips he found he had accidentally given the waitress the 20 and had only a single left to gamble with … poor him. I assured him the waitress probably deserved the $20 more than the owner of the casino did…