Thursday, February 7, 2008

Spend your Euros...in NYC


So, what with the weakness of the dollar right now, some shops in Manhattan have begun accepting Euros as payment.

This is amazing and awesome - maybe this will encourage the US government to print up some money that's actually visually appealing, instead of plain old greenbacks (yeah yeah, they put a hint of pink in the new $20, but that doesn't hold a candle to the Euros' vibrant blue, pink, green and yellow).

I imagine this must make checking out at the store more of a hassle, unless they post the Euro price as well as the dollar price - they'll have to sit there with a calculator, figuring out how much it'll be (unless they're totally gypping buyers by having them pay 10Euros ($15) instead of the $10 ticketed price).

At the Canadian and Mexican borders, they've been accepting Canadian dollars and pesos in some of the stores for years, but this is the first time New York has gotten in on the action.

I'm all for it!

13 comments:

Hoarse Whisperer said...

"I'm all for it!"

Boy, you must have a lot of Euros left over from your last trip to France :)

The Lethological Gourmet said...

I don't have too many left over. But then, I have a foreign currency collection. I try to keep at least one of each coin or small value bill wherever I go. So part of me doesn't like the fact that they have all the same currency in Europe, because that cuts down on the different ones I can get, but I do have some old ones from the first time I was there...

Crabby McSlacker said...

I'm with you--U.S. currency is so ugly! It almost seems intentional.

It's a little scary how little a dollar is worth anymore. We're way overdue for some international travel but I gotta say the exchange rate seems prohibitive. Hope it gets better some day, I want to see a lot more of the world.

The Lethological Gourmet said...

Crabby,

Maybe having ugly money is intentional...it makes us not want to look at it, so we don't want to take it out and use it...

Or maybe we're more likely to spend it because it's ugly, we don't want to hold on to the uncolorfulness of it.

I might get to go to Cairo in May, woohoo!

Hoarse Whisperer said...

"Or maybe we're more likely to spend it because it's ugly, we don't want to hold on to the uncolorfulness of it."

That's a jolly colorful observation, I should say.

"I might get to go to Cairo in May, woohoo!"

Either that is a totally random declaration or their money must smell good (like onion soup)...

The Lethological Gourmet said...

lmao...well, I can't say as to how the money in Cairo smells or looks, because I have no idea (except that it's different than the ones I have now). I was responding more to Crabby wishing she could travel more...just don't go to Europe and you'll be fine! Though the plane tickets to Cairo certainly aren't cheap...

Hoarse Whisperer said...

There is so much to see in the North American continent that will cost a lot less. For instance, I am going hiking in the Smoky mountains during the last weekend of this month. Roundtrip fare to Atlanta: $198. Of course, there is a 3 hour drive from Atlanta to the secluded cabin ($95 per day) I have rented in the mountains. But that should be a good scenic drive though!

The Lethological Gourmet said...

True, there is a lot to see here, but it's not as interesting (to me)! I'd much rather go to someplace when they speak another language, have a (considerably) different culture), have different food, and see things that I just can't see anywhere near home. Now, of course, that means that I'm paying lots of money, but it's worth it in my mind...

The Merry said...

Leth, that sounds like how I would feel if I visited NY ;)

I know, it would be even more of a cultural immersion to actually go to other shores. It's been awhile; you're getting me thinking of travel again.

Hoarse Whisperer said...

Raina, you are right. But the North American continent includes Mexico (just ignore Cancun) and Canada, where they speak different languages. And you can drive to Montreal and Ottawa. A person should be able to wrap up a long weekend in either city for less than $400. Let me know if you want to do a road trip to Canada one of these days.

The Lethological Gourmet said...

It's true you can go to Canada and speak another language (hell, that'd be awesome! I love French!), but the culture isn't considerably different. The culture is different in Mexico definitely, but I would put Mexico in the exotic travel category, though I tend to avoid it a little just because it strikes me as a very touristy destination. I like the idea of Egypt (or Asia or Central America or eastern Europe, etc) because it's so different from what we have here and while it may be touristy, it's not something you can easily experience. So there's a heftier price tag attached, but that's because it's harder to get to.

I would love to go to Montreal sometime, or Quebec, but probably not for a while since I'll be saving to go to Cairo...

The Lethological Gourmet said...

Welcome to my blog, Merry! You should definitely pick the travel bug back up again :)

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