It’s possible to drop change into someone’s hands without physically touching them though. I don’t like physical contact either, and on the rare times I pay with cash, I hand it to the cashier without making physical contact. I remember there was one store I went to that the cashier literally put the change on the counter right beside my outstretched hand and open palm, every time. And it was annoying to pick up change from a stainless steel counter.
From my time on Reddit years ago this question came up.
Some cashier’s said they reciprocate the exchange back to the customer. If the customer puts cash on the counter for them to pick up, they’ll put the change on the counter in return.
There also was probably some new training from covid where you didn’t want to touch people directly, so those training materials probably still exist
I remember that explanation too. Additionally, in some cultures putting money directly into the hand of another person is frowned upon for various reasons.
Cash has been so uncommon in my country for a very long time. It’s like an insult to give a friend cash, like, “Here. This is your problem now.”
I think I used to just hold my open wallet in one hand and accept the cash in the other, slide the coins off, slot the notes in, and grab my stuff. I don’t remember it being annoying. Though our notes were polymer so coins slid easy.
One of the things I thought was neat when I visited Japan was that some places would give you change back in a dedicated little tray with rubber “fingers” that made the coins easier to pick up, so you didn’t struggle to pick them off a flat counter.
Whats worse is when they put it on top of the bills and hand it all back to you at once, like some kind of fucked up magic trick. The shit that I just bought is in my other hand, how in the fuck am I supposed to get this change into my pocket?