Saturday, April 4, 2009

Hey, mister! Change? You got change?

I know we're leaving soon, but this is a topic I've been meaning to address for a while now.

Last night I about lost it. My lovely wife and I went to Xochitl's in Cholla Bay for some of the best pizza I have ever had. Literally. We make sure to eat there at least once a month. If you ever come to Peñasco, you HAVE to eat there. Anyway, the bill came to just over 200 pesos. My wife gave the server 300. For one, he had the audacity to ask if we wanted change. Um, you pay for food and tip for service. The food is worth every peso. But, I'm sorry to say, the service doesn't justify a 50% tip.
Then, when the server came back he asked if we had anything smaller than a 100 peso bill. Seriously? You run a restaurant! This is a Friday night! You can't break a 100? That's 7 bucks! My wife searched her bag for some spare pesos and came up with 20 in smaller coins. While she was digging in her purse I asked the server why Mexicans have difficulty making change. He gave us some BS about doing business in dollars because it's a tourist town. That still doesn't explain much because they have the same problem with dollars.
Xochitl's isn't the only place that does this. We have similar issues at the grocery store. If you try to pay with a 500 for groceries that total between 300 and 400, the checker asks if you have something smaller. Smaller? Like what? That all-elusive 368 peso bill? Yes, I do have smaller bills. In fact, I could pay the exact amount. However, I want to keep those because when I go out later, my taco bill will be smaller (say, 80 pesos) and nobody else will have change either. You're the biggest grocery store in the city. Learn how to make change!
For this last month, just to be a jerk, I am going to use bills in the largest denomination possible.

By the way, I'll give you a thousand bonus points if you can name the movie from which I got this post's title.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's really interesting topic,
"Learn how to make a change", Its really great words,
I loved it.

___________________
Vince
Get easy cash at your door step

Melissa said...

I just stumbled upon your blog - it's fun reading about your Mexico adventures even though they are long over.

BUT - I do think I'm going to earn your bonus points.. the title of this post is most obviously from UHF. The movie proudly sits on my shelf!