When I was an undergrad, I one time decided to ride my bicycle up to the East Portal of the Moffat Tunnel. On the way back, I stopped in Rollinsville to buy a candy bar at the general store. And that evening, I stopped at the King Soopers to pick up some items for a well-deserved large supper. I had started the day with a $5 bill in my pocket, so taking out the 26 cents for the candy bar, I knew I had $4.74 to spend.
Imagine my surprise when I got ready to pay and found I was short. In fact, I had only $3.38 in my pocket. It didn't take me very long to figure out what had happened: The lady in the general store had short-changed me -- precisely one unit in each denomination.
So the next Saturday, I rode back up to Rollinsville and informed the lady she'd short-changed me and I wanted my money back -- one dollar, one quarter, one dime and one penny. She dished it out of the till without even looking up. Her unquestioning reimbursement confirmed my suspicion that she tried to short-change every customer, and would therefore be unable to identify anyone she hadn't cheated. "This is great!" I thought, "So long as I can get myself to Rollinsville, I shall never be penniless in this world."*
*Caveat: This took place 38 years ago; the general store in Rollinsville (if it still exists) is probably under different management by now....
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