#$2 dispatch

December 31, 2014

Location: Jimmie Kramer’s Peanut Bar, Reading, PA

Date: February 15, 2014

Transaction: Tipped with a $2 bill

Earlier this year, Paul and I took a Pennsylvania road trip. Friends had recommended stopping in Reading and, among other places, going to the Peanut Bar. Its name made it an irresistible lure. There, we had an exceptionally gregarious bartender named Pete (above; click to enlarge). He gave the impression of knowing something about everything — or at least wanting to.

No longer in New York City, I wondered how a $2 bill would be received in a jerkwater town like this. I placed one down on the bar as part of our tip, and Pete noticed it immediately. 

“Ah. A $2 bill. Thanks — I collect those,” he said. And then, slowly, with a sideways glance, he said, “This is an art project, isn't it?”

A lovable observation if I ever did hear one. 

December 16, 2014

Location: La Bonbonniere, New York, NY

Date: February 6, 2014

Transaction: Included a few $2 bills in dinner payment

At this old Manhattan café, a pal and I had a greasy meal — but not as much cash on hand as we would've liked, considering the place was cash-only (which we learned when the bill arrived). Scraping together what we collectively had, we came out with a $20 bill and three $2 bills — precisely enough to cover it. 

Who pays with three $2 bills at one time? Tossing in just one $2 bill for fun and efficiency — that's fine. But three of them is an anomaly even for me, a rabid fan of the denomination. 

I arranged them for greatest visibility, as seen above, and as inconspicuously as possible waited by the door to witness a reaction. Alas, there was none! 

Another one for the NO REACTION file.

(Photo taken by Brendan Cummings on his pocket phone.)

November 14, 2014

Location: Konditori (Seventh Ave. location), Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY

Date: January 24, 2014

Transaction: Paid for a $2 Swedish coffee with a $2 bill 

The return of the two-dollar double take: “Whoa… I wasn’t expecting to get a $2 bill today.... Apparently they’re bad luck. That’s what I heard,” said the barista. (Click photo to enlarge)

Okay, so this fellow superstitiously believes $2 bills are bad luck. Interesting, because most people I've spoken with in the service industry believe just the opposite. If I believed in luck, I'd say it's good luck to pay for a two-dollar purchase with a $2 bill. 

September 29, 2014

Location: Placido A. Menezes, MD, PC, Brooklyn, NY

Date: January 24, 2014

Transaction: Paid $25 copayment entirely in $2 bills

What’s it like to make a copayment entirely in $2 bills? I accidentally found out when confronted with a sign telling me that copayments at my orthopedist’s office could be paid with “cash or check only!”

Cash or check only in 2014 in Park Slope, Brooklyn? Seems a little weird, right? (Or is it just me?) Anyway, I’d fractured my leg during a joyful sprint down a sidewalk at night, and I needed an orthopedist ASAP, so I went to the closest one. The doctor himself was fine, but the office, located in a basement of an old townhouse, was a little outdated. 

I wasn’t planning on paying entirely in $2 bills. But what else could I do? I hadn’t brought other denominations. So I whipped ’em out.

“That’s so queer!” said the delighted black-sweatered receptionist (barely seen above). The pink-and-gray-sweatered receptionist began laying them out one at a time, making a nice grid on her desk, as seen above. Only then did she count them. (I received a $1 bill back.) I loved watching her do that — it was as if she had decided on the spot that it was the best way to visually take them all in. If so, I agree. 

She asked me where I got all the $2 bills. As usual, I said that one can go to the bank and get them. She was obviously thrilled, and so was I. Check out the happy face she made out of two exclamation points: 

September 5 , 2014

Location: Shades of Green, NY, NY

Date: January 23, 2014

Transaction: Used two $2 bills to pay for drinks

As I've mentioned before, spending $2 bills around people who haven't been in the United States very long has an additional layer of interest.

At Shades of Green in Manhattan, our bartender was a woman from Dublin, Ireland. In contrast to this other bartender from Ireland who could hardly believe $2 bills were real, she didn't blink an eye at my $2 bills. Something about the experience felt unfinished, and my friend Aaron impulsively started talking to her about the $2 bills.

“It’s all Monopoly money to me,” she said. “It’s all green. All our money is different colors.”

And that was that. 

August 28, 2014

Location: Leslie’s Classic Wines, Brooklyn, NY

Date: January 12, 2014

Transaction: Purchased a bottle of wine with a $2 bill

“No! No! You can't spend this! You can't!” asserted Michelle, above (click to enlarge), when I used a $2 bill to pay for a bottle of wine. 

“Someone gave me a $2 bill once and I never spent it. I never spent it. I’m probably gonna put this one in my purse”…and put two of her own $1 bills in the cash-register drawer, she said. 

In sum: She never spent it. 

August 25, 2014

Location: Mariella Pizza, NYC

Date: January 7, 2014

Transaction: Paid for a slice of pizza with two $2 bills 

Phil, above (click to enlarge), did what many people do when they receive $2 bills — he identified it not just visually but verbally: "$2 bills!"

I love when someone does that. It's as if simply seeing a $2 bill isn't enough to confirm its existence — it must be verified by putting a vocal stamp on it. 

I asked Phil if he ever gets $2 bills at his place of employment. 

Phil: “Once in a while.”

Then I asked whether he minds getting them. 

Phil: “Ah…it’s all the same. It’s money." And then... "It’s money, right?"

Upon further thought, he continued, "I don’t like two dollars’ worth of pennies.” (Who does, Phil?) 

August 13, 2014

Location: The Gate, Brooklyn, NY

Date: January 1, 2014

Transaction: Paid for a drink with two $2 bills

It was New Year's Day, and I was feeling mildly celebratory. I set down two $2 bills for my drink. “$2 bills!!” the bartender exclaimed when she saw them. She said she always keeps $2 bills when she gets them, and she carries them in her wallet. She and her roommate “just decided that it was good luck — always keep a $2 bill in your wallet."

That's something I hear from people a lot — always keep a $2 bill in your wallet ("because then you're never broke," as a guy put it to me once). Back in February I posted about a bartender at Montero's who does that too: "I carry one in my wallet for good luck," he said. 

The above bartender at the Gate said that a friend of hers who worked at a place in Red Hook rejected a customer’s $2 bill because he thought it was fake. Further, he thought all $2 bills weren’t real. I felt a surge of envy upon hearing that — I wanted to be the customer whose $2 bill was rejected. Because even though I support the idea of $2 bills being more commonly circulated, I savor the experience of having them denied. (Here's an example.)

(Photo taken by Emma Williford on her telephone)