Profiling?

[Company_Slave]

As a reminder I work at a gas station ("Slowway"). A couple weeks ago we got an email from the DM warning us about a new rash of counterfeit 20's in the area. When it came in, one of our girls was still on maternity leave. Our DM is fond of making everyone sign a printout of the email and picking it up for his records. He stopped in the store just over a week ago before he went on vacation and pointed out that Coworker E hadn't signed. As she was still on maternity leave when it came in, this wasn't surprising. On Friday, Boss had E read and sign. Not an hour later, E accepted a counterfeit 20. Boss being nice, and really liking E, told her she could avoid the writeup by replacing the 20. Since right now that particular writeup MUST be forwarded to the DM and he has a right to terminate someone for it, I feel she was pretty generous. Cue E paying the 20 bucks and going home, and venting to her hubby about her day. Hubby blew up, came to store, exchanged words with Boss. Long story short, E no longer works there and we are now required to use a verification marker on ALL 20s (even those being used for employee purchases). If the manager catches us with an unmarked 20 after we've cashed out the transaction, we are fired. No questions asked.

Fast forward to Saturday evening. I am working on my scheduled day off because, you guessed it, E had been scheduled the 2p-10p shift (one I generally work) and it needed covered and I am Boss's slave (and broke so I needed the extra hours).

Me: Tired, grumpy, having an annoying day, and a pale pasty white girl (important later).
Dumb Complainer: Male, mid 30's, complains about something every time he's in, pale pasty white dude (also important later).
CoWorker J: Awesome girl I work with. Not pale, pasty, or white.

Me: Rings up his snacks and drink, scans "Slowway" card, and tells customer total.
DC: Hands me U$20 bill.
Me: Grabs marker and marks bill.
DC: "What are you doing? Do you think I'm a counterfeiter?"
Me: "No sir. We are now being required to mark all $20s coming in. I marked the one the girl before you gave me."
DC: "This is ridiculous. You guys are accusing me of passing bad bills. Blahblahblah."t
Me: Takes a deep breath. "No ones accusing you of anything sir. We are just ensuring that none of our honest customers have received a fake 20 blahblahblah."
DC: "This is bull****! You're just profiling me!"
At this point, I'm confused. J is confused. All of the customers in the store are confused. How can a white person of middle class upbringing POSSIBLY profile another white person who looks to be in the same social class who isn't wearing any sports team logos, his pants are firmly pulled up to his waist, he is wearing a gray t-shirt, he has no visible tattoos or piercings, no visible religious paraphernalia. On what basis did this moron think I was profiling him?
Me: I've had enough. I slap (yes slap) his 20 down on the counter and snatch the bag full of his empty calories. "Fine. I just won't take it and you can leave."
J:
DC: Uhhh...well, you've already marked it now so I might as well just let you take it
Yes, he's doing me such a favor by that
Me: Snatches up the 20 and plops down his bag. Man I hope I shook up that bottle of coke enough for it to spray on him in the car. At this point, I mark the bill AGAIN. Just to prove a point. I cash him out and hand him his change. "And for the record, the next time you speak to me like that, I will refuse to ring you up ever again."
DC: repeat
Me: Stomps off into the back to take out my frustration on some dirty pizza pans.

Seriously, we could avoid the whole pen thing all together by dropping all 20s straight into the safe, but it would slow down our service during rushes, and we'd have no 20s to give as change when people have big bills. And I would like to note that this gem of a human being is one that likes to forget to hit the bank Friday after he cashes his paycheck so he will frequently come in and pay for a fountain drink with a 50. So I'm making sure, in essence, that HE will never get a fake bill from us.

I really need a new job.

[Sunshine]

oh god. if we had to mark all our bills, the fit would hit the shan. i'm sorry. wanna cookie? i haz chocolate chip!

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

Yes he is being profiled.

He matches the profile of "someone who might have a fake $20". How do we know this? Because he has a @#$%ing $20.

Pure and damn simple.

If he doesn't want to be profiled like that then he should start paying in Fivers.

[Company_Slave]

OOOOOO choco chip!!! Thanks Sunshine.

And Mongo, I just laughed so hard I nearly had to go change pants. After this weekend, I need that. Thank you.

[RetailWorkhorse]

If he doesn't want to be profiled like that then he should start paying in Fivers.

Make that Ones. There was a rash of fake Fivers in ABQ here a little while back. It's too expensive to copy the Ones (no profit in it) since the inks and linen is so expensive.

I check ALL my bills (save for the Ones) because I know what to look for and the pens won't work on certain bills or gives a false negative.

[MrSunshineState]

What is really angering about situations like that is I am pretty sure he wasn't actually offended or upset you marked the bill, but merely pretending to be to see if he could muster up any discounts or free services.

The majority of my jobs in my professional career have been in call centers so I have barely worked with cash, and I very rarely carry cash, but I have had bills I attempted to pay with marked, and never felt offended by it or like I was being accused of anything. I remember back in 2001 to 2004 when I worked box office at the movie theatre, I always had a counterfeit marker and about 99% of the time I used it, customers didn't even bat an eye. But there was that 1% who would raise a fit, and seeing as how I worked for the most spineless jellyfish of a manager ever, he'd run downstairs, apologize and instead have me ring up free passes for baby having a hissy fit.

I remember once I had somebody ask me a similar question your SC did "Do you think I am scamming you with fake money" and I told him the honest truth "No, but not all fake bills are used on purpose. Some are gotten as change somewhere and then the person who got it as change innocently uses it elsewhere not recognizing it is a fake bill. Do YOU use a counterfeit pen on every bill YOU get to verify it's authentic?" He looked pretty dumbfounded and actually apologized

[Sunshine]

yw slave after that, i'd want some chocolate too!

[LillFilly]

You have to watch out for those smaller bills; people will bleach-out a 5 and print a 20 over it, so the marker will show it's real, but the water mark and safety strip will show otherwise. Gotta feel for the ridges in the artwork too. We were having that problem around where I am.

[thansal]

Getting pissed at people for checking bills is about you attacking their honor, and as many of us know, these people don't have any to start with, so they have to defend it all the more.

These are the people that complain about getting called a thief when they go through the receipt check on leaving a store (that checks everyone).

These are the people that will rant about getting checked at the airport, how could you POSSIBLY THINK THEY ARE TERRORISTS!!!!



Then again, it could be option B.
They are thieves.

[Sapphire Silk]

I was in a c-store last year when some numbwit tried to pass a fake bill (and it was a $20 IIRC). Guy passing it knew it was fake because he bolted when the clerk tried to get his ID while he called the cops.

There's a lot of fake money out there. Sometimes in the hands of innocent parties who just don't know what to look for. Some fake money is really good (as a fake that is).

I commend people who are conscientious enough to check. It reduces theft and fraud, and keeps prices from climbing through the roof.

[tropicsgoddess]

What an ass.

[Teskeria]

DC: "What are you doing? Do you think I'm a counterfeiter?"
Me: "No sir. We are now being required to mark all $20s coming in. I marked the one the girl before you gave me."
DC: "This is ridiculous. You guys are accusing me of passing bad bills. Blahblahblah."t
Me: Takes a deep breath. "No ones accusing you of anything sir. We are just ensuring that none of our honest customers have received a fake 20 blahblahblah."
DC: "This is bull****! You're just profiling me!"

ME: "Well, I DIDN'T think you were a counterfeiter when you first handed me the bill, but now I'm not so sure as I've never before had an honest person complain." Hold bill up to light. Starts obviously feeling for ridges.

[Clover]

Oh I hated having to check them-every single day, without fail, there'd be at least one idiot who would come in, give me a twenty, and get all offended when I checked it with the pen and/or held it up to the light to check the watermark (as Filly is correct, some people do bleach out the number and write it in as something bigger) and they'd throw a royal fit. It's not our fault that a few bad apples have ruined it for everyone, so don't take it out on us!

[EricKei]

If he doesn't want to be profiled like that then he should start paying in Fivers.

I had heard that Fives are actually counterfeited MORE often than Twenties these days...The reason why? Nobody checks them

I remember once I had somebody ask me a similar question your SC did "Do you think I am scamming you with fake money"

Even more ammo -- Last time I checked, in the US, at least, not knowing that you are passing a fake bill is irrelevant, as far as the police/courts are concerned; the act of trying to use such a bill is the crime, even if the user thinks it's genuine. If anything, you are doing the customers a FAVOR by "preventing" them from passing a bad bill. Of course, if it IS fake, you still have to hang on to it and they're out that money >_<

Well, I DIDN'T think you were a counterfeiter when you first handed me the bill...

That's my thought on the matter -- Methinks they dost protest too much.

[PatchO'Black]

I suppose another way to answer the question "You think I'm trying to pass a counterfeit?" is to shrug and say, "Doesn't matter what I think, my boss says we have to check every bill that's twenty or more, or else I can get fired. If you don't like the policy, you'll have to take it up with him/her."