Whats a nickel?

[VoodooSquirrel]

This one wasn't sucky, just stupid.

Anyway, for a bit of history....... Back in the day I did 3rd party collections, and I was a floor supervisor for a phone company, I won't give the name, but its also something you do in Track & Field meets 100 meters at a time. (too subtle? )

Anyway I overheard one of my friends stuck on the phone arguing with this woman, and the conversation sounded like one you'd have if you were arguing with a brick wall. After he finished, he related to me the general flow the call took...

SC - Our Antagonist, the Customer
M - My Friend Matt, a source of infinite amusement while I worked there.

SC: You screwed up my billing plan
M: Whats wrong with it
SC: You people got me on the nickel a minute plan, I never signed up for that
M: I can't help you there, this is billing, but I can put you through to Customer Service to change it
SC: You guys screwed this up, I'm not supposed to be on the nickel plan, fix it now
M: I can't fix it, but custome......
SC: I said fix it, I'm supposed to be in the 5 cent a minute package, not the nickel a minute
M: ....... sorry.....say that again?
SC: I'm supposed to be in the 5 cent a minute package, not the nickel a minute!
M: .............
SC: Get this fixed!
M: umm....... Ma`am, a nickel is 5 cents
SC: -hangs up without a word-



So....... yeah, we laughed at that for hours. I wish I could have gotten a chance to speak with her, I would have loved the opportunity. I'll try and dig out a good one of something that happeend to be persoanlly for next time.

[KuzcoLlama]

(I won't give the name, but its also something you do in Track & Field meets 100 meters at a time. (too subtle? )

Nope! The art of subtlety is not lost on a llama.

People are quite slow. Rename something (Yes I know the nickel and five cents are interchangeable, I'm referring to the name of the plan), and people get their buns in a twist. Sad that something simple such as this is lost on them.

[cewfa]

I get this one at the pizza joint with Ham and Canadian Bacon.

Customer: I would like a large pepperoni and canadian bacon, and a two liter of pepsi.
Me: Ok, so that will be a large ham and beef (we call it ham), and a two liter of pepsi. That will be $13.25.
Customer: No. I want a large beef and canadian bacon.
Me: Right, a large beef and canadian bacon.

[jb17kx]

I didn't know what a nickel was untill I read this thread. Does that make me stupid?

Come to think of it, what's a dime, too?

[counterjockey]

Maybe she worked for the phone company that couldn't tell dollars from cents...

http://verizonmath.blogspot.com/2006...rom-cents.html

[Gurndigarn]

I didn't know what a nickel was untill I read this thread. Does that make me stupid?

Come to think of it, what's a dime, too?

Penny: 1 cent
Nickle: 5 cents
Dime: 10 cents

Each cent being 1/100 of a dollar. Officially, the nickle is the "five cent piece" (that's what's written on it), but it picked up the nickname when the mint changed from using silver and having a really itty bitty coin to less valuable metals and making the coin big enough to be manageable. Likewise, the penny is the "one cent piece". The dime actually has "dime" on it, not "ten cent". And the quarter dollar has "quarter dollar" on it.

I've been told that this confuses the hell out of non-North Americans when faced with US coins the first time, but if you think metric, the coinage is a little less confusing. (I didn't say easy, mind you, just less confusing. We actually have the face value printed on the new dollar coin as a symbol, not words, so it's possible we'll be changing the other coins to match at some point.)

By the way, my father is a coin collector and I work in the coin-operated business. Could you tell?

[It's me]

Penny: 1 cent
Nickle: 5 cents
Dime: 10 cents

In Canada the offical names are:

• 1 cent coin
• 5 cent coin
• 10 cent coin
• 25 cent coin
• 1 dollar coin
• 2 dollar coin

All with corresponding markings on the coin

But of course, just to make things confusing, everyone calls them

• penny
• nickle
• dime
• loonie
• toonie

Fun facts:
The loonie is got its nickname from the fact that there is a loon on one face.
When the two dollar coin was released, what else *could* we call it other than the 'toonie'

The dollar coin was supposed to have a voyageur on the reverse side, but the dies were lost in transit to the mint. To prevent counterfitting the design was changed to one with a loon.

In the late 1980's (when the one dollar coin was introduced) a cashier at a cafeteria I went to must have disliked the term 'loonie'. When she gave out change she always made a point of handing the dollars coins separately and naming them: "And a golden" or "and two goldens" etc.

[tollbaby]

interesting bit of trivia... the word "Dime" comes from the french, dîme, which is "tithe" in French. Specifically, it means the ten-percent of your salary that you're supposed to give over to the church (in Catholic parlance, although i'm told that some protestant sects use it as well). The word was shortened from "dixième", meaning "one-tenth"

[Seshat]

Likewise, the penny is the "one cent piece". The dime actually has "dime" on it, not "ten cent". And the quarter dollar has "quarter dollar" on it.

I've been told that this confuses the hell out of non-North Americans when faced with US coins the first time, but if you think metric, the coinage is a little less confusing.

I think metric for money (I live in a dollars-and-cents money country), and it confuses me.

Confusing things about American money:

* The dime has no indication on it of its value, only of its name.
* Some of the coins are similar sizes, weights and thicknesses, without even different edge milling to distinguish them. You have to be very familiar with the coins to tell them apart quickly.
* The only way to tell the notes apart is to read them or recognise the presidential faces.


By comparison, the Australian coins which are similar in size have differently milled edges and are different colours, the Australian notes are all different sizes and colours, and everything tells you its value. This makes this easier for the visually impaired (or the blind), and for foreigners.

At least, so it's hoped.

[Sofar]

Man, I deal with a lot of tourists, and I'm tired of people complaining about our money. I know the ten-penny piece is smaller than the penny, but who cares. It used to be made of silver, which is worth more than copper. I know the money is all the same color, but green's a pretty nice color. I know all the fancy engraving makes the numbers hard to read, but it looks prettier that way.

[tollbaby]

Man, I deal with a lot of tourists, and I'm tired of people complaining about our money.

I'll never complain, but I will explain to the cashier if I'm taking a bit longer to count out how much I'm paying. I've literally said to American shopkeeps, "I'm from the land of Monopoly money... takes me a bit longer when I actually have to read the bills rather than just look at the pretty colors" They usually just laugh.

[jb17kx]

By comparison, the Australian coins which are similar in size have differently milled edges and are different colours, the Australian notes are all different sizes and colours, and everything tells you its value. This makes this easier for the visually impaired (or the blind), and for foreigners.

At least, so it's hoped.

Exactly!

Thanks, Gurndigarn and others. I live in Australia, so I know all the metric units (meusurements as well - so much easier). It's just the strange names.

I like Aussie currency so much better.

And curiously, we no longer use 1c and 2c coins (removed in 1991, melted down to make bronze medals for the 2000 Olympics), we've never used 25c coins (50c instead), and we have no $1 notes ($1 and $2 coins instead).

[ArenaBoy]

Living in Michigan in the southeast area where you happen to be on the border of Windsor, I'm used to getting Canadian currency and paying in it also. It's quite common to find a 5 cent piece in your change along with American currency. In fact I'm so used to it that I forget that other states don't accept it. In 2005 I was in Wisconsin for a wedding and had to pick up a few things from the store. As I was paying I threw in a Canadian coin without thinking of anything of it. The clerk pointed out my mistake and I blushed, just told her where I was from and how used to it I am.

[Imogene]

"I'm from the land of Monopoly money...

My rich Uncle Pennybags buys me hotels everywhere I go. And I'm a racecar! VROOM!"

[tollbaby]

My rich Uncle Pennybags buys me hotels everywhere I go. And I'm a racecar! VROOM!"

*snicker* And that, dear, is why I am your fangirl