How to Count Money

[Chazzie]

So you know how people will lick their thumb to count money? In my opinion it’s pretty gross, because come on. It’s money. Anyway, I’ve seen a few variations on that at my job now. For example, this one time I saw one dude lick the unrelated thumb before counting the money with his dry thumb, completely defeating the point.

Today’s drive thru customer took the cake however.

He took out a wad of cash, LICKED THE WAD, and then counted the money out with his thumb to give to me.

I took it by the corners delicately, put it on the register and proceeded to wait until he left to put on gloves and put it at the bottom of the stack in my drawer.

So glad to have a couple of days off.

[Kogarashi]

I'll...just be over here, alternating between banging my head on the wall and trying not to throw up.

I don't lick my thumb, I actually spit slightly on it. Kind of the same thing, except that my tongue and thumb don't come into contact with each other.

[notalwaysright]

I know it's not nearly as effective, but I just breath on my fingers. There are those products which make it easier to turn pages, but they feel icky. Apparently I'm weird, because I don't like the way dry skin feels, but sticky/greasy/tacky is just as bad as dry to me. I handle money a fair bit, but generally don't need to physically count each bill, since we weigh it.

What is also super gross is when you open a till and can smell the money. Cigarette smoke, or pot, or perfume, or mold (!), or BO. And now I get to touch all of it, joy.

[Monterey Jack]

When I'm bagging, I usually use a frozen item with frost on it (like ice cream), run my thumb over the surface of that, and then use it and my forefinger to open a stubborn batch of plastic bags.

[Seanette]

I don't have that option, but do have hand sanitizer, so use a tiny bit on thumb and forefinger for those stupid bags.

When I get damp paper money or the customer is extracting it from non-standard places in clothing (bra, sock, etc.), I am deeply grateful for that sanitizer.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Since 9 out of 10 bills have cocaine one them, that may be the reason people lick their thumbs when counting money.

[Mr Hero]

And if any of that money has ever come in contact with a stripper...

[Kogarashi]

When I'm bagging, I usually use a frozen item with frost on it (like ice cream), run my thumb over the surface of that, and then use it and my forefinger to open a stubborn batch of plastic bags.

I actually did that when I was cashiering (we did our own bagging instead of having paid baggers). If the customer had something frozen/refrigerated that had condensation on it, I'd use that to get my fingers wet for opening the next batch of bags.

[MoonCat]

Whatever happened to those little containers of waxy stuff that bank tellers used to use for this...?

[BrenDAnn]

Oddly, I was just discussing this with a coworker last weekend. I find it to be one of the grossest things when people lick their thumbs, then count their money. Pretty sure I'd be fighting hard not to give them a disgusted look and/or throw up all over if I saw someone actually lick the money itself. Ew!

[RealUnimportant]

I've seen people lick unrelated digits before, but licking the cash itself is a new level of dumb!

[Golden Phoenix]

At Shmesco we were allowed a little pot with a cut in half sponge dampened with water at the checkout. Much more hygienic.

I had the same kind of setup (but one manufactured for that purpose) when i stuffed envelopes for a month. I did 5,000 mailshots, i would have ended up with a very sore thumb and tongue. Lol.

[Mr Hero]

At Shmesco we were allowed a little pot with a cut in half sponge dampened with water at the checkout. Much more hygienic.

I had to read this one twice. I was like, damn, we're not even allowed that at my job and I live in Colorado.

[LesserSouthernFroglet]

And if any of that money has ever come in contact with a stripper...

Don't you swipe a credit card in the cash slot nowadays?

[Kogarashi]

Whatever happened to those little containers of waxy stuff that bank tellers used to use for this...?

Where I worked, at least, they weren't provided by the store. We had to go and buy them ourselves if we wanted them (and if we even knew where to get them).