Cash and Clerks...

Hi Internet!

So I have ditched my cards and decided to use cash only always, which isn't really so unique - people do that often if they decide to try and make their money last throughout the month...

Well Icelandic money isn't that complicated we have the Króna, you have the basic 1,5,10,50&100 króna coins, then you have the 500,1000,2000&5000 króna bills, so it's not exactly difficult to see that to one 100 króna coin you have either 20, 5 króna, two 50 króna etc. to make up for that, for one 500 bill you need 5 100króna coins and so forth, so why is it when I have to pay say, 1576 krónur and only have a 2000 króna bill and 76 krónur in coins that it's so difficult to figure out the fact that I get a 500 krónur bill in return??? seriously, young people working the cash register are so dense with cash it's terrible, they take forever counting and recounting and trying to understand what I asked them to do (that is to give me a 500kr bill back) that the people behind me are usually about to explode with impatiante and muttering something about just using a debit card - seriously though - why is it that clerks don't have some minimal requirements for using every day math such as counting, adding and subtracting?!? I mean it's not like they need to know how to find the root of pi or anything?!?

And while I'm on the subject of clerks, is it too much to ask that my grandmother - who doesn't know a word in english - can go to the stores here in Iceland and be checked out in the language she knows - ICELANDIC??? seriously, why can't the store managers send their foreign workers to some basic Icelandic lessons???

ugh ok I'm done - sorry if I offended anyone :D

- Zi