money changer

yesterday i got a phone call from an officemate. he was asking whether i was still changing money.

what???

changing old money with new.

ah, ok. yup.

i have this little personal crusade i started back in college. whenever i come across torn, taped, crumpled, old, yucky-looking bills, i ask to exchange them with a newer one. others would try to spend the money right away so it gets out of their hands. me, i retain them then deposit them to the bank. i have an aunt who used to work for the central bank. she said banks are supposed to surrender these bills to the CB and the CB replaces them with newer bills to freshen the money in circulation.

anyway, my officemate then asks whether a janitor came to exchange money with me yesterday.

i tell him no, i was at a meeting yesterday.

he then laughingly wonders aloud which cynthia the janitor approached. he said the janitor was telling him miss cynthia declined to change the money saying, 'what on earth is this guy trying to do? tell him to stop playing pranks on me!'

oooops... hahaha. there are many cynthias in our group, three of us on the same floor.

my officemate then resent the janitor and he appeared at my office with a really disgusting twenty peso bill. it was so disgusting i felt like my fingers were going to grow warts after having touched it. anyway, i exchanged it with a new one and i've deposited it to the bank.

next time you come across such bills, you know where to exchange them ; )