The Drive-Thru Asked If I Wanted My Change. I Said Yes. Here’s Why.

This has happened to me more than once, at more than one restaurant — I won't say where. This time...

I zipped through a drive-thru over the weekend to pick up something to drink. I was hot, thirsty, and on the verge of farting dust. My total was $1.80. For once, I had some cash (I hardly ever carry it) and whipped out two dollars to pay for my beverage. Much to my surprise, the drive-thru worker asked, "Do you want your change?"

Now, look. I realize that twenty cents is just twenty cents. I also concede that my financial security was not going to be threatened if I didn't get that change back. That twenty cents was destined to go where all of my change goes - a tin jar marked "sundries" that I have sitting on my bookshelf at home.  The change in that jar gets counted about once a year. I am always surprised by how quickly and substantially it adds up.

Could I have surrendered that twenty cents? Yes. Did I want to? Absolutely not.

For me, this comes down to the principle of the thing. I feel like any business that's operational in today's corporate America needs to read the freaking room. Consumers are already paying enough for your services and goods. I don't want to be invited by you to pay more for them - even if it's just twenty cents more.

Also, let me go ahead and address this in case someone reading this story jumps to conclusions about my tipping. When I was in college, I paid my way through it by working in the food industry. I waited tables at The Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown Louisville and survived (and educated myself) on tips. To this day, I tip and tip well - even when I carry out. I understand the importance of tipping staff. But, I'm not going to tip just because someone hands me a drink through a window.

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That said, I suppose I could have replied, "Just keep the change." Maybe that change would have been added to a cumulative tip jar divided by all the employees at the end of the day. Or, it could have been (my fear) just thrown into the register and added to the daily balance of a fast food giant that doesn't need my extra twenty cents. I was told my beverage cost $1.80, not $2.00. I know I kinda sound like Ebenezer Scrooge here, but I am going to pay $1.80 for it. I mean, how much do you think that one 32-ounce drink really cost the restaurant to make?

Look, there's no doubt about it. We're living in a "Do you want to round up?" consumer culture. I get asked, "Do you want to round up for (fill in the blank)?" at virtually every store I shop in these days. I am all about 'rounding up' if someone who truly needs it is going to get it. But if I am "rounding up" so your corporation can get a charitable tax credit or letting you "keep the change" to pad that drawer, the buck literally and figuratively will stop here.