Zeros

“Auntie, I have the tortillas.” Her soft voice and shy smile greeted Hannah as she entered the room.

“Oh great! How much do I owe you?”

“One thousand two hundred.”

“Ok, let me find my purse.” After a few seconds of searching, she realized it was in the car…and the rain was pouring.

At that point, I jumped in: “I think I’ve got it, let me check.” Excited to be supporting this teen’s baking efforts, I found my purse. Ah, a bill with one plus zeros, that’s it…but no 200 shillings, only 500. Well, she can keep 300 shillings. Beaming, I reappeared in the kitchen. “Here you are. Keep the change!”

The girl seemed confused and Hannah uttered a brief “mmm” as she reached for the money. “Ah, those zeros will get you every time! This is 10,000. I think I have a one.” The proper money was quickly found. The embarrassment, however, did not so quickly leave.

Ah well. Now I know the difference between 1,000 shillings and 10,000 shillings. 1,000 is orange, while 10,000 is blue, and that’s a lesson I won’t quickly forget.