The Advance

Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: Opinion

Ka ching! Let's take a detour from accessibility around campus and take a look at a more global view of money.
If you really think about it, money comes in many different color variations and textured paper. However, only the paper money is a problem because coins can be identified by size and touch. Paper bills, on the other hand, are all alike.
Keep in mind that I am referring to the United States currency. This is because other countries have textured or different colored bills.
Take Europe, for example, they have bills that are different colors, like Monopoly money! You know, the 1's, 5's, 10's, 20's 50's, and 100's that are each a different color. That definitely makes it easier to tell bills apart.
The US, on the other hand, has every bill of the exact same color. There is no way of knowing a five from a fifty when you are unable to see the bills.
The problem is that you are not able to mark or label the bills. There is no way to tell one bill from the next because of the exactness of each.
The customer service providers and cashiers need to be trained to not give such a fuss and cause a hassle when one is not necessary. Problems, such as cashiers not knowing how to work the register and/print out a receipt and not counting change back when persons like myself can not see.
This is an excellent example because when I have had change given back to me after a purchase, the cash that is placed in my hand is unidentifiable to me. I can not tell a five from a fifty, so they all look the same to me.
How do I know if the cashier is honest or thieving? I will not always have a sighted person with me because I do things on my own, but this makes things almost impossible.
A simple, back in the old days, counting of money back would be nice. Is that too much to ask?
A little understanding and patience would also be nice.

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