The saying is really "Queer (Strange, Unusual) as a $3 Bill," but they have been interchanged through the years; the older generations know the saying. There actually were $3 bills printed back in the 1800's, and the government started printing $2 bills in the 1920's, stopped in 1966, then started back in print in 1976, and are still in print and circulation today (barely).
So I wanna talk about my experience the other day with a $2 bill. I went into a convenience store to buy a coke, soda, pop; whatever. It was $2.37 and I handed the young girl at the counter a $1 and $2 bill. She said, "I need 1 more. I said, "Well that's a $2 bill." It was obvious she had never seen one before, and she looked it all over, held it up to the light, and I said, "It's real." She looked at me like I wasn't telling the truth, but went and ahead and reluctantly gave me my change.
So that got me thinking - You know, I remember when the $2 bill came out when I was in retail, and I thought it was weird the first time I saw it back then, and yes, I still do. I wondered why we don't see more of them - are people hoarding them, not using them, taking them back to the bank?
I started googling about the $2 bill and came across an article with the headline: "9 Reasons You Should Never Ask For $2 Bills From The Bank", written by, you guessed it, a bank teller. Funny, huh? In her article she lists those reasons, and said nothing can slow down her day more than a customer asking for a $2 bill. “Seriously, you don’t want to be that person,” she said. Yeah, well, lady I don't want you to be my teller!
So the other day when I went to my local bank to cash a check, I asked my teller if anyone ever wants $2 bills. She said, "Oh, we don't carry them here, we have to order them for you, and they take about a week." Then it hit me - the banks don't want you to use/have $2 bills, thus, the shortage and non-use! It's the bank's fault!
I am now in agreement with the young girl at the convenience store.
The $2 bill is strange, unusual, and yeah, it looks fake. (I am a Thomas Jefferson fan, though)
Cheers Everybody!
Jaggy Jeff
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