On dollar coins

I had to go to the post office this morning to buy stamps. Since the line at the window was to the door, I decided to use the vending machines to make my purchase. I had a twenty and for one of the few times in my life, the machine accepted it on the first try! As a result of my transaction, I ended up with a pocketful of dollar coins as my change.

Having a large lump of dollar coins in your pocket is certainly a mixed blessing. They do look good. There is a certain gravitas to a golden coin. I am always a little hesitant to spend them. When I do use them, there is usually a momentary uncertainty on the part of the cashier. I guess that they just don’t see enough of them in any given day to make them a part of their usual routine.

Vending machines, with the exception of the post office, don’t seem to like the dollar coins. I have had very bad luck with them eating the coins and giving me nothing in return. I am a little surprised by this. I remember when the Susan B. dollar coin was issued. At the time, one of the main advocates for a dollar coin was the vending machine industry. Now that we actually have two different dollar coins in circulation, few of their machines seem to want to accept them.

In addition, the kids don’t like to use the dollar coins for lunch money. My son said, “Dad, it confuses the lunch line lady”. What about the dollar coin is confusing? It is worth a dollar. I suppose that the cash register drawer probably doesn’t have a little slot for them, but to have this cause “confusion” seems overly sensitive on the part of the lunch line lady. I guess I didn’t realize what an emotional pressure cooker a school cafeteria line must be.

As I left the post office to run the rest of my errands, I encountered the really substantive problem with having a pocketful of dollar coins. With my age and body type, “droopy pants” is just not a good look.