I was waiting at the pharmacy for a computer to reboot so I could check out. A boy, perhaps 10-12 years old, came in and politely asked the clerk if she could exchange $35 for singles. She told him she didn't have that much in the register, and he asked for whatever she could give him.

The pharmacist had more cash behind the counter, and gave her $25 in singles to make up the difference. Meanwhile, the boy's two friends, approximately the same age, came in eating their sno-cones. The clerk gave them their money, and they thanked her and raced out of the store.

The clerk, the pharmacist and I looked at each other, and finally I said aloud what we all were thinking: "I know what they'd be doing in ten or fifteen years with the singles, but what are they doing at THAT age?"

When I got home, John gave me what was probably the correct answer: arcade change machines often take only $1 or $5 bills, and larger bills attract attention.