Chattering-Magpie-blog
An honest mistake.
One of us was wrong. I was sure it wasn’t me, but now I’m not so sure.
Thursday night I parked downtown for the outrageous sum of $7. Why did I pick First Thursday to go shopping downtown? Because my nephew’s birthday is next week and I needed to get some books for him.
I asked the parking attendant if a $20 bill were okay, it was all I had. He said yes and asked if I had $2. I handed him my $20 while I searched for and located two singles. I handed them to him and he gave me $5 back.
Wait a minute. I was sure I gave him a $20 bill. He was equally certain it was a $10 bill. He had a ten in amongst the bills in his hands , but if someone handed you a bill wouldn’t you put it either on the top or the bottom of the wad, not tucked into the middle?
The attendant said he would do his count and if he was off, he could give me my $10 back. Fine, I went off to do my shopping.
When I got back, he hadn’t quite finished his count. He asked me what I had given him. I reminded him I thought it was $20 and he had thought it was $10. He handed me a five and some singles.
Are you sure, I asked. I don’t want your count to be off. It’s okay, he said. I think he just didn’t want me standing there.
Now I’m not so sure. Every time before when I thought I gave someone a larger bill, I’ve been wrong. I feel sorry for the guy if he gave me $10 he didn’t need to. He will probably get in trouble if his count is off. But on the other hand, I was sure that all I had in my wallet at the time was two twenties.
E assures me that whoever made the mistake, it was an honest mistake. Still, I felt a little guilty. Then I realize the attendant had shorted me on the ones.
