Making change

To the editor:
    Great Britain has eight coins in current circulation. There are the penny, two-penny, five penny, ten penny, twenty penny, and fifty penny pieces. They call the multiple pennies: Pence.  Then there are the one and two pound coins. Since updating how its currency is calculated as part of another in the 70’s a penny is now 1/100th of a pound. We will sing the Christmas carol with the line about Ha’penny and Tuppence. Today, there is no more half penny piece, but you do find the two pence piece called a tuppence. Eight different coins. In the U.S. we have the penny, nickel, dime, half dollar and one dollar coins. So what do you do with this pocketful of change?
    First, there is no pound or two pound note. Thus, if you buy something that costs one pound or two pounds you are going to have to use a coin or expect to get some coins back if you use a five pound note or a ten pound note. In a way this is environmentally sound since the coins will last far longer than the paper cousins. However, for the busy shopper: UGH!
    Perhaps it is a younger shopper or a guy’s option to detest these items. I like change to a point. It rattles in the pocket making it sound like you have more money in your pocket than you really do. There is some weight in the pockets. But most of the time change is exasperating. How often have you been intent on getting your loot, going to the register and paying for it.
    You stand in line waiting for the bleeps, blips, and flashing lights with the ubiquitous “Do you have a member card” to fork over cash and get out of the box. The line gets long and longer. And you just so happen to be next to the person who has a 7 dollar 38 cent purchase.
    Now if it is a young guy, the solution is simple. Whip out a $10 bill, smile and pocket the change. Git! Then there is the person with the change. If your teeth are not already grinding themselves in oblivion at the image, you know immediately that the person in front of you is going to count out the change. There is no organization of the coins! Pennies, dimes, nickels, and quarters are in the same heap. Of course, the total number of coins is also an unknown. Intent on counting out every penny, there comes the question, “ How much did you say it was?” File for your social security and pour on the Geritol.
    These thoughts came to mind as I lugged my sack of change to the farmer’s market this morning. On Fridays, a mini market is set up in Rother Square. Almost everything is only a pound or two. Your carrots, eight for fifty pence and a cabbage go for a pound. Fresh eggs, half a dozen eighty pence. A ball of twine is twenty pence. And so it goes. Clink, clnk, clink! At the end of the day, you have a sack full of goodies, a pocket empty of change, and little patience for these bits of copper and silver. Do not ask if I have a penny for your thoughts.