During my trip to the United States more than a decade ago, I experienced two small things that were insignificant but puzzled me, and these memories are still fresh today. One of these happened at a convenience store in California, where I bought cigarettes and handed the clerk a fifty-dollar bill. The old white man in his fifties politely asked me if I had a smaller denomination because he didn't have enough change. I checked my wallet and found that there were only fifty and one hundred dollar bills. Unexpectedly, the old man said: "I can find it for a hundred yuan." This surprised me very much, fifty can't find a hundred but can find it?
Another time happened in Las Vegas, where I went to the famous Venetian Hotel, had nothing to do, and decided to try my luck at Cassino. I took out fifty dollars and prepared to exchange them for chips, but the young lady at the exchange point refused to accept my fifty dollars and explained it to me. She told me that if I traded a hundred dollars for chips, she would give me an extra ten dollars. I took out fifty dollars and handed it to her, but she still didn't accept it. Her face was cloudy, as if she was thinking about how to communicate with me. Suddenly, I had an idea, took back fifty dollars, and took out a hundred dollars, and the young lady's expression instantly brightened. I was convinced that the fifty dollars must be counterfeit.
However, it wasn't until yesterday that a Chinese friend who had lived in the United States for more than 20 years finally solved my doubts more than 10 years ago. He told me that Americans are very superstitious, especially older white people. They consider fifty dollars unlucky, because the fifty dollars are printed with the eighteenth Grant of the United States, and Grant is the only one in the United States who is bankrupt. As a result, many old-fashioned businessmen think that charging fifty dollars will bring bad luck, and although they are embarrassed to say it, they will excuse themselves on the grounds that they don't have change.
In casinos, there are reasons why you don't like to charge fifty dollars. Not because of Grant's bad luck, but because Siegel, the boss of the Las Vegas casino industry and a well-known gangster, was shot dead by his enemies while collecting a box of fifty dollar bills. As a result, the casino also considered it unlucky to charge $50.
A friend told me that more than a decade ago, a congressman proposed to replace the $50 Grant image with Reagan, but it was later rejected by Democratic congressmen. And the Democratic Party's candidate will inevitably be rejected by the Republicans, so the issue has been delayed until now. Perhaps this rigid thinking of Americans is a bit incredible, so why not print Reagan on one side and Carter on the other?Why don't the old men even dare to accept fifty dollar bills?