The Roman Love for Exact Change

A recent trip to the supermarket in Rome started me thinking about an interesting phenomenon in this city. I happened to be in line behind a sweet elderly woman who had only a bag of onions in her hand. What should have been an incident free checkout for her suddenly got ugly when the cashier asked for  E. 1.90 and was then handed a 50 Euro bill. A sinister expression replaced what had just seconds ago been a smile, and the clerk snapped, “Signora, ma non ha spicci” (Ma’am, don’t you have exact change?) to which the little old lady replied, “I’m very sorry, I don’t”. The cashier then shot the woman a look of disgust, and told her that it was not possible to pay for a bag of onions with a 50 Euro note. The woman stood there, sure that the cashier would eventually have a change of heart, open the drawer and dole out her change. The cashier sat and stared at the woman, then looked over her shoulder towards the client services booth, as if to consider getting up off her tush to go over and ask for change. She then proceeded to tell the woman in a matter of fact tone, “I’m sorry, I can’t make change for you”.  Period. The woman stared in disbelief, sure that the cashier would not deny her this bag of onions simply to avoid making change, but this is precisely what she did. She left the store, no onions to be had.

The above is just one more tale of lousy service in Rome. Romans hate to make change, whether they have it in their drawers or not. The locals here have internalized this phenomenon and you will see them there at the checkout, frantically counting their coins in order to come as close to exact change as possible in order to avoid the wrath of the checkout clerk who has been forced to break open a new roll of coins. Tourists in Rome generally have to learn the hard way, when they break from their Rome sightseeing tours and march into a shop to pay for a drink or snack, only to be verbally assaulted when they pull out a big bill. With all the warnings about gypsies, supposed hypnotic drugs, and other things to be weary of in a big city like Rome, if only the Rome sightseeing tour guides would explain that tourists should make an effort to pay with exact change!

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