Today was one of those days where you feel like you are on the outside looking in - looking in on someone else's life to be precise - and what I saw was Amsterdam kicking me hard in the &%$. Test of the day: the ATM would only dispense large bills. The Dutch only like to accept small bills from you when you purchase anything. They also absolutely hate having to make any type of change. They will patiently watch you dump out the contents of your wallet and pay with 47 coins as opposed to breaking a 50 note.
Knowing this predilection, I bicycled from bank branch to bank branch to exchange my money once I realized that the ATM had essentially given me the finger. Interesting development, though... none of the banks had any money inside - they operate strictly ATM only here! There aren't even bank tellers present, but just a person that greets you at the door and shows you to the ATM. Honestly, the banks don't have money inside them here... I am still baffled by this.
So you can guess where this is going, right? I had to beg shop keepers and grocers to accept my euros in their unfashionable denominations all day long. I really can't put into words just how annoyed the Dutch get about having to make change. It truly was as if I had personally insulted every person I had to pay today. People muttered under their breath at me... others waved their hands about in disgust.
A bit surreal... the ATMs dispense large notes at random times / the banks don't actually have money inside them to make any change for the euros their ATMs have just dispensed / and the general populace hates making change. How? Why? Help!!!
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