Jingle jingle

A post I just read on defective yeti got me to thinking about a (not uniquely) Canadian phenomenon - coins. Unlike Americans, whose highest coin value is 25 cents, we have a dollar coin, which we affectionately refer to as the Loonie (because of the prominent loon on one side) and a two dollar coin, which since it came next - logic follows, we call a Toonie (get it?). So we do not have paper currency in one and two dollar denominations anymore.

How has this affected our lives? Well, using the vending machine is a snap. No bill readers required. Our pants pockets need to be structurally reinforced though, with all that extra coinage in your pocket, holes are much more likely to appear before your pants wear out.

It also means you are likely to be carrying a small fortune in change and not even know it. It wouldn't be uncommon to find you were sitting on (no pun intended) around $20 in coin. Which has led to a new experience for Canadians:

Sales clerk: That will be $12.05 please.
Customer: (Looking in wallet and finding no bills) Awwww horse turds(*), I forgot to hit the bank machine. (Then realizing) Oh! Just a sec. (Reaches into pocket and pulls out a handful of coins) Two, four six, eight, ten, eleven, twelve and a nickel. Well ain't that a prairie oyster(*)! I had it in change all along........
Sales clerk: (Putting the pee in patronizing) That's just wonderful............... Would you like your receipt in the bag?

But as defective yeti put it:

"Oh yeah, that would be fantastic. Then, every time you sit on a couch, you'll lose thirteen dollars .... instead of just sixty-four cents."

(*)P.S.: We don't really talk like that - I was just being facetious.