186 Does it pay to be honest?

Of course it does, but sometimes the results aren't what you would expect. When the clerk at the supermarket handed me change for a twenty instead of a ten, I said, "I think I gave you a ten."

I expected her to check her bill tray--clerks are taught to put bills in certain slots, so there should have been a ten in the twenty slot if I were correct.

No. That's not how it is done at that store. First she gave me a dirty look. Told me she can't open the drawer. With a long line waiting behind me, she calls a supervisor on the loud speaker and reports it. Then she pulled out the locked drawer, took it to the office, and got a new drawer. She told me to go to the office where it would be counted.

I waited at the office while the employee chatted with an elderly gentleman, and then waited for her to count and balance the drawer. It checked out perfect. I was wrong, the clerk was right.

Later I realized I hadn't "broken" the twenty I'd put in my purse the day before because I hadn't shopped anywhere else. But I was still right to ask.