I bought a sesame roll and a tea with lemon from a Chinatown deli yesterday. The total came out to $1.70. A moment after I tendered the cashier a ten-spot she put a quarter and a nickel on top of a bunch of bill and the bills on top of the receipt and tried to hand it to me in one mass.

I pulled my hand back and waved away her offer. I tapped my right palm with my right index finger and said, "coins - this hand," then switched hands and tapped my left palm with my right index finger and said, "Paper - this hand," and stretched out my right hand to receive my coins in the proper way. When I determined that the coins were right, I closed my right hand and put out my left hand for the bills.

I do this because taking change the wrong way leads to a number of problems.

• The change may slip off the paper and fall on the counter or worse, on the floor.


• If the change falls on the floor it will be impossible to determine if the cashier short-changed you if you don't find all the coins.


• It is harder to determine if the cashier is handing you the correct change if it's all in a clump.


• It will be harder to prove to the cashier that your were short-billed.

I take the coins first, then put them away, then I spread the bills out in front of the cashier as soon as they are handed to me. If you walk away to count your bills you have no way to prove that you aren't trying to scam the retailer.

I have many times been handed change as if I gave a ten-dollar bill instead of the actual twenty I tendered . When I receive the change I say, "That should be ten dollars more." If you walk away to count your change, some other customer may be at the counter getting change and so the cashier, if he honestly made a mistake, will have a harder time recalling what you handed him - he will only remember what the present customer just gave him.