Change please…

I walked up to the bukala (mini market) counter and handed the cashier 10 Riyals. The cashier gave me back a few Riyals along with a pack of gum. I put the gum down and left. The next time the same thing happened, I told the cashier, no thank you, no gum, no gum. He looked at me and smiled and showed me the receipt, pointing to the things I had purchased. I was still puzzled and walked out the door, once again leaving the gum behind. Soon after this I met an American lady, she came to visit me at the villa, I told her the funny story and explained to her that these people kept giving me gum. She laughed and told me that was my change if any coins were due. There are coins in Saudi (halala) but no one uses them, gum or candy is used instead! The picture above is my daughter’s change when she went for a visit in 2013.