[so_real]

I disagree. I don't think a cashier picked at random would (or should) hand you back three singles, then a five, then a ten, and then two more singles (or a two dollar bill) for change. I believe most cashiers would just hand you a twenty right off the bat after using good "old fashioned" mental subtraction; and hopefully, while handing it over, they double-checks their work, saying "12 and 20 make 32".

[firebrand]

Today the cash registers calculate the change for you, so the cashiers go from the highest denomination to the lowest. Back in the day, I was a cashier on the old-fashioned kind where you had to thump the thing 20 times if somebody bought 20 items at the same price. You’d hold down the right keys with both hands and thump with the heel of your right hand at the same time.

Then you went from the price total backwards to the amount the customer had given you—the lowest denomination first, etc., and then you counted it out aloud as you gave it to the customer. Oddly, the lines moved faster than they do today.

You were also “bonded.” Someone would purposely leave a their change behind and walk away, and if you called him back, you proved yourself honest.