Situation #1 (one week ago). I wanted to test the local area, so I've been intentionally dumping just a few rolls of sorted coins everywhere to get a feel for the local area, the banks, supermarkets, gas stations etc to see how people react. I went to the Customer Service desk at Safeway and tried to turn in about $15.00 in rolled coins ($10 in dimes, $5 in pennies). The girl actually looked at me strange and had to consult her manager in the back to see if she could take them. She said her manager wouldn't take them, as they didn't want to be responsible for any loss if the coins were short; even though I had a Safeway card, they still wouldn't take it. So I say no problem and cash them in at the in-house US Bank inside the store. I inform the teller that I don't have an account, but will they cash these in for me please since I'm shopping here? They accept the one time, since I'm not a US Bank customer.
Situation #2 (today/now). I decided to go pick up some butter/sour Cream for baked potatoes for part of tonight's dinner etc. I only had some rolled coins on me and no FRN's, but heck, I'm only spending maybe 8 bucks, so I should be OK, right? Anyway, the cashier (Safeway again) scans my two items and the total is $7.28 . I hand her 1 roll of dimes, 4 rolls of pennies and a 50 cent JFK piece...I even stated out loud as I handed the (forty year old) cashier the money, " five, six dollars, seven dollars, seven-fifty. " . So she looks at the rolls and handles them like they are some kind of foreign unknown object. She actually waived over her supervisor for approval, who looks at the rolls and then proceeds to inform the cashier, "It's up to you if you want to take them" , implying that it's her responsibility and as if she's going to lose her job or something if they are even off by one cent. I politely say "That's all I have with me" and that I counted them myself and then showed her that the penny rolls are exactly all the same width, so they won't be short on money. The cashier is unclear on what to do and thinks for a few seconds. By this time, the lady behind me is starting to get upset, even though the whole thing has only been a 30-45 second delay. Sheesh.
Are CA people that impatient?? I then say, "Look, they are legal tender and hey, you have to spend the coins SOMEWHERE, right? Whether you spend them at a supermarket, a gas station, Wally-World or wherever, you HAVE to spend them somehow!" She finally takes them and I leave with my purchases. Keep in mind that I looked professional and was wearing business attire, nice italian leather shoes, clean-shaven etc, while being polite/calm etc.So WTF??? Are all CA supermarkets like this or is it just Safeway? Or have we just dumbed down our society or perhaps stores don't trust their customers? What happened to good old-fashioned trust? I felt like I was in a foreign country or the Twilight Zone or something. I've tried Trader Joe's market (they are great) with no issue there and on more than once occasion. Also, gas stations here are no problem (tried two different ones). I didn't try Lucky's supermarket yet.
Thanks for letting me rant. And if you got this far and actually read the whole thing, then congratulations (sorry, no prize available).
I will write separately on my coin findings in CA while sorting (now there's some interesting stories to tell!)
He said the 
Hmmmm ( 
)....I'm going to have to be real creative and come up with something good then.
