So here was a weird phenomenon last night: I had to go out to pick up my pill refill, and decided to grab something to eat. There's a gas station near the pharmacy, with a quickee-stop type market and a Jack in the Box attached. So first I went into the store to buy a Yoo-hoo, which costs 99 cents. I give the clerk a dollar, she takes it, puts it in the drawer, and shuts it. And that's it. So I ask for my change, because even though it's just a penny, she owed it to me, and she says, "Oh, did you want it?" Like it's her decision, her call to make or something! So, of course, I said yes, and she opened the drawer and gave it to me. (And if she hadn't just assumed that I didn't want the penny, I probably would have dropped it in the "leave a penny" dish. But since she didn't even do me the courtesy of asking, of course I wanted it. Because giving customers back their change isn't, in fact, a freaking option.)

So then I go into the restaurant and order a burger, which costs $3.21. So I give the woman a five dollar bill, and she rings it up as $5.21, and gives me two dollars back. So I point this out to her, and she is convinced that I gave her 21 cents. Which I didn't, and I tell her so. So she takes one of the dollars and gives me 80 cents back. So now I'm up a penny. And I'm thinking that maybe I need to be paying for stuff with exact change, because clearly, this is something people are having trouble with.

Change! It's the new "Would you like a box for that?"

And I just read that the new Alias DVD set, the forthcoming third season, is going to have a seven-minute animated featurette. Which is quite cool, but also quite weird. It's like everything gets some sort of animated companion any more: Riddick, Van Helsing, and now Alias.