Before taking a bajaj I make sure they have change for me. Otherwise I look for another. I am tired of getting to the destination and then the driver hopping out and asking street vendors for change from 10,000 shillings.
ATMs only give 10,000 (only very occasionally 5,000 notes) and so I am always stuck with a wad of them. It seems that everyone else has the same problem because it’s not just bajaj drivers but shop keepers, street food sellers, kiosks and boda boda drivers. Nobody here has enough change. Sometimes I have to pay over the odds because there’s no change and on other occasions, I have been given a discount because the shop didn’t have the change for me.
“Do you have the 1,000 shillings?” the supermarket checkout girl asks when my bill comes to 21,000. “I am SO sorry, no I only have 10,000”, I say with an expression of regret I have become very good at. I am pretty sure they know I have 1,000 but don’t want to give it up. All my friends do the same. In fact, I’m sure everyone does the same in supermarkets.
Everywhere I go I give 10,000 shilling notes. The only people who receive small notes from me are bajaj and boda boda drivers (I feel a bit sorry for them) and little shops where I am buying just a bottle of something cold. With everyone else, change moves in only one direction.
Why oh why is the situation like this? I have never before come across a shortage of change. It is crippling business. Bajaj drivers have now started asking me whether I can give them the correct change before taking the ride. The Abood bus from Dar to Morogoro should be 9,000 shillings but I often have to pay 10,000 because everyone gives 10,000 notes there are not enough 1,000 shilling notes to give everyone change.
I have made a big effort recently to accumulate a horde of 1,000 shilling notes. The dirty one I take out with me to spend but the better ones I keep for in a safe place.