Got Change?

So of the many interesting cultural complexities in France there is one that I have come to not really appreciate. It's the fact that whenever I pay for anything with a bill I get a look from the cashier that is like, "You don't have 50 two Euro coins in your back pocket? Were you born under a rock?"

A la yesterday when I bought 2.85 Euro worth of stuff at the grocery store and used a ten to pay for it and got a look like I was the devil. Really, is a 5 dollar bill that hard to produce out of your cash box?

Another complexity with money is that they never hand it to you. I feel that in the US it is probably considered rude if you don't hand the money to a person (and I asked my friend from Australia and she says the same). So thanks Frenchies for making me feel like you hate me. But you probably do anyway, and are just acting accordingly.