Randomocity #1: Counterfeit Money

I know this is a random topic, but it really got me thinking today. I am working at the Imax this summer. You know, selling tickets, doing concessions, ushering, and whatever else they tell me to do. It's not my favorite thing in the world, but it's helping to pay the bills.

ANYWHO... When selling tickets we are required to check out all the 50 and 100 dollar bills to make sure they are not counterfeit. You know the routine...the clerk takes your money, pulls out the black magic marker and draws a line on the bill. If it is yellow, it's genuine....but if it's black...it's definitely counterfeit.

And that leads to my pondering question of the day: What happens as a ticket worker if one of my customer has a "black" bill? Do I call the police? Do I refuse the bill given to me by an 83 year old man wearing a visor? Do I have the right to tear up the money in a thousand pieces and throw it in the customers face? I know that marking the big bills is standard routine but nobody has ever (in any job) told me what happens if the dreaded line turns black. Am I the only one who thinks about such things? And these questions lead me to an even bigger question: What would happen if I was the customer and I was the one with the "black" bill?? I don't think you could ever come back from that!! What if they ripped it up in front of your face and all of a sudden you were out $100? What if they called the police on you? How do you explain that you might be able to teach twenty-five fifth graders how to reduce fractions but NEVER in a million years come up with the brains to create fake money?? Would the police come search your house, your car, under your bed?? Could I lose my job? These are serious questions. My mind is whirling with all the humiliating possibilities that could happen from such an event. I suppose what I have learned from this new irrational fear of mine is that I should never ask for or accept bills larger than $20 increments, whether it's from a bank or at Country Mart, stocking up on the extremely reduced prices of Blue Bunny ice cream.