Waiting For The (American) Coin To Drop

Employees, Extra Stupid, Money, USA, Washington DC, Zoo |
Working | May 28, 2020

I’m on vacation with my son in our nation’s capital, visiting the National Zoo. The vending machines take large bills, and at some point during the day, I buy a drink and get dollar coins as change. Later on, we are buying a meal in one of the cafes and I try to pay with the dollar coins.

Cashier: “I’m sorry, I can’t accept these. We can only take American money.”

Me: “What? That is American money.”

Cashier: “No, it’s not.”

Me: “It says, ‘United States of America.’”

Cashier: “It looks fake.”

Me: “I got it as change in one of your vending machines. You must have had other people pay with them, too.”

She eventually called over her manager to confirm that dollar coins were, in fact, real money. No harm done, but how do you work at the National Zoo and not recognize American money?