Do you want a coupon?

I know I'm home now, but every so often I'll have a post either talking about some experience I had in Israel that I thought about and never talked about on here, or adjusting to life back in the States.


Today I had an adjustment moment. Or, as I wrote on Facebook, I felt like a foreigner.

I was standing at the counter at McDonald's, ordering a small order of two things off the dollar menu - what I usually do when I need to sit down for a while and work on something. I don't just want to waltz in, buy nothing, and use the internet. Anyway, so my total came to $2.10. I reached for my wallet, and... went for the change section first, digging around for a dime around my leftover shekels.

The shekel coins:
1, 5
10
2, .5

As I was digging, the lady standing next to me asked if I wanted a coupon, and then proceeded to dig around her purse for a huge booklet of coupons, saying that she would never use them all, et cetera. When I gave up looking for a dime, I told the lady gently that I had just ordered off the dollar menu and there probably weren't any coupons for that. She apologized and said she was just trying to be nice. (I thanked her for her kindness in any case - very sweet to offer a coupon!)

Having abandoned my search for the dime that would allow me to pay in exact change, I pulled out three one-dollar bills and put them on the counter to pay. The woman behind the register took the money, placed two of the bills in the register, and handed one back to me. Huh? 90 cents of change does not equal one dollar! But, I swallowed my pride, thanked the woman, and took my change.

Two scoops of ice cream at one vendor in Jerusalem is
one of these coins, or the equivalent of 2.50 in US dollars

As I walked away with my McDouble and sweet tea, I wondered what it was that made both ladies treat me as if I didn't have much money. Did I really look like a poor college student? I realize, of course, that I should have taken out the two dollars first and THEN looked for the dime, but it was... well, it was kinda habit to reach for the change first. See, Israeli fast food only costs something like 10-20 shekels, which can be paid in coins of 10, 5, 2, and 1. My second-to-last night in Jerusalem, a bunch of us went out for ice cream, and I handed the man a 10-shekel coin with which to pay.

I'm just glad I didn't hand the woman a 10-shekel coin... THAT would have DEFINITELY labeled me as a foreigner.