There are no coins in Cambodia. Instead, there are 100 R to 10,000 R notes, worth 2.5 cents to $2.50. The upside is that pockets last a little longer (an untested hypothesis at this early stage), but there are downsides:
(1) Very difficult on windy days to determine which team gets to choose its side. Also, tougher to do some demonstrations of probability if you are a math teacher.
(2) Scratch offs require the use of a paper clip. I have not turned into an avid Lottery participant, received or wished to receive any iTunes cards, nor are there any McDonald's contests (or restaurants for that matter), but the cell phone cards I purchase every month or so do use the same technology.
(3) You have to find something else to remove the battery on your mac (which is designed to be opened with a coin). Probably not justification for transitioning to coins... at least not until the King gets a mac.
We generally take standardization for granted. That is until something reminds us how convenient it is. Like when Walmart started selling 8 x 10.5 paper in the US -- I felt robbed of 19 square inches of freedom because I was, and it just did not look right in my binder along with the handouts and other things printed on normal paper. And I blame China and Walmart for it, never considering the fact that I am the one shopping at Walmart and buying this paper in the first place. Oh, but this is not about Walmart or paper, really. It is about standardization. And, more specifically, another demonstration of just how great standardization can be until it is ripped from your grasp. This second illustration comes courtesy of the staff room cupboard at HOPE school where I teach. There really are this many different sizes of staples in it -- I did not go hunting all over, either. Every one of these boxes is for a different size. Crazy. Granted, in America we probably have like 3 sizes: Normal, Huge (for stapling books you copied illegally at Kinkos), and Dinky (for those little staplers that overly organized 7th grade girls tend to have).
