100 Pesetas

Last Friday I went to Día to do some shopping. I was waiting in the queue, and there was a very old lady before me who was going to pay for some bread and some tomatoes. So, when he got to the cashier she took out... a one hundred pesetas note! and tried to pay with that.

Of course the cashier told her she couldn't pay with that, and the young man behind me in the queue obviously felt sorry for her and very kindly offered to pay for her shopping. The old lady accepted the offer and thanked the man, but she kept asking why she couldn't pay with that note. I explained to her that we don't use pesetas any more, but she could change the note in the Banco de España,but that it would only be about 60 cents, so it wasn't really worth it, because she would spend more on the bus ticket to the Banco de España...

So, I said to her: "What about, I give you two euros and you give me the note, because I would like to have it" The old lady accepted, although she first doubted if I was tring to take advantage of her... hahahaha... but the cashier and the young man told her it was a good deal, and we exchanged currencies.

When I told my family they made me feel guilty for my "good deed" (buena acción) and they accused me of conning (estafar) the old lady; my brother said that the note was probably worth a lot more money now. Fortunately I checked on the internet and I saw that in fact it was worth about what I gave the lady; 2 euros.