Comments on: Walmart shopper tries to use $1 million bill

By: chgoliz

chgoliz — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:56:00 +0000

That could be his game plan. He wouldn’t be the first to commit a non-violent crime so as to get shelter, 3 squares, and access to medical treatment.

By: juepucta

juepucta — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 10:30:00 +0000

They’re not worth didley. Jesus freaks, for example, have been passing around bills like this around turists areas here (LA). There’s is some really small print malarkey about salvation being worth more than any earthly riches, etc.

By: Marc Macoy

Marc Macoy — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 07:11:00 +0000

That 1 million dollar bill would be worth something to art dealers that’s for sure. Reminds me of this artist in NYC who tried to circulate bills he custom made, and told the counter that his bills were worth more than they could imagine. But nobody believed him, and of course they did call the cops on him. He got arrested multiple times, but his art is worth a lot of $$. Only if I remember his name.

By: Mike Jackson

Mike Jackson — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 06:30:00 +0000

I know there’s a rationale for stopping real counterfeiters, but what will be the ultimate cost of processing this wannabe through the system? Why not take it away from him, copy down his info, humiliate him on the local news assuming he was seriously trying to pass this bill and just send his dumb ass home?

It’s going to cost lots to jail this guy, pay for his court-appointed attorney and whatever else they do to him if they arrest him. So much “crime” like this is costing our local, state and Fed governments to prosecute than it’s worth!

By: BombBlastLightingWaltz

BombBlastLightingWaltz — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 06:15:00 +0000

He implied it was fiat money. Everyone uses some type of it.

By: Jonathan Roberts

Jonathan Roberts — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:58:00 +0000

I thought those were only legal tender in Liberia?

By: ill lich

ill lich — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:31:00 +0000

And to think he COULD have paid with commemorative 9-11 coins, you know. . . the ones with “actual silver recovered from ground zero” that have the little pop-up World Trade Center towers? Those are so collectible, they must be worth a fortune by now, no?

By: Robert Baruch

Robert Baruch — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 03:07:00 +0000

One day I bought a new wallet, and in it was one of those little credit-card sized cards that said “Credit Card”, as if I needed to know that credit cards could go in the wallet. But I kept it, and the next time I went out to a restaurant, and the waitress (who was very happy and good-humored) gave us the bill, I whipped out the little card and said, “Do you take ‘Credit Card’?”

She actually laughed, took it, and went to her manager to ask “Do we take ‘Credit Card’?”

By: TokenCapitalist

TokenCapitalist — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:53:00 +0000

Now, if only they hadn’t arrested Bernard von NotHaus for creating the Liberty Dollar. At least in that case, it was out of spite that private citizens were using a better currency than the US Dollar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_von_NotHaus

In this case it was either stupidity or a joke gone wrong.

By: EvilSpirit

EvilSpirit — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:28:00 +0000

Still not over that whole Gold Standard thing?? Seriously, it’s time to move on.

By: Nadreck

Nadreck — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:04:00 +0000

Does seem like an over-reaction: I mean, this bill isn’t so much more bogus than the bills the US government is burning out the printing presses making.

By: Guest

Guest — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:01:00 +0000

I’m just wondering if someone owed him money, paid him with the million dollar bill and said “give me back the amount I don’t owe you when you get change”. He may not (Lexington, North Carolina) be aware the bill wasn’t legal tender.

By: yri

yri — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:52:00 +0000

I thought the Gipper was on the 1 billion dollar notes – though you’d still need a lot of them to bribe your way out of the Klink.

By: bcsizemo

bcsizemo — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:50:00 +0000

*sigh*…I was hoping I wouldn’t read this on BB…

Right down the street, I mean seriously, not EVERYONE from NC is a hillbilly or “retarded”.

And to those that wonder why all the comments on the WS Journal’s site seem to be overly right wing hard core Republicans…well cause they are. The vast majority of the news articles are trolled by that crowd.

By: BadIdeaSociety

BadIdeaSociety — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:24:00 +0000

The commenters on the Winston-Salem Journal are some joyless, lame people. “Who’s picture was on the bill? Probably our Dear Leader, Barry” Is that the funniest line you could come up with?

He only owes $17,500 for bail. He will be free just as soon as Wal-Mart gets him his change.

By: Teller

Teller — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:09:00 +0000

Effing 1%ers.

By: frifrofrizzum

frifrofrizzum — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:04:00 +0000

The only thing that should be “sever-ed” is the stem from your brain. Imagine working at a restaurant and the party you’re waiting on pays in cash. If you went back to collect the money a little too late (after they had left) for both dinner/tip and saw this bill, I’m sure you’d want those crooks to get what they deserved.

By: Mujokan

Mujokan — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:00:00 +0000

I dunno, he looks pretty normal.
http://www.lexingtonnc.net/p2c/arrests.aspx

By: Bubba73

Bubba73 — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:58:00 +0000

Someone’s sense of humour has certainly been severed.

By: Warren

Warren — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:51:00 +0000

Nah. I think he just printed off a $17,500 bill and handed it to the desk sergeant.

By: i_prefer_yeti

i_prefer_yeti — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:46:00 +0000

To be a big tipper, give a Gipper!

By: Work_Watch_Buy_Repeat

Work_Watch_Buy_Repeat — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:46:00 +0000

He probably paid it in the only way most Americans can: by paying a bail-bond agency a non-refundable 10% fee to post bail for him. $1,750 cash straight into the bail-bondsman’s pocket.

Actually, if he’s truly like *most* Americans, he doesn’t have $1,750 in cash lying around, so he has to resign himself to a few weeks (or months) of pre-trial confinement.

The economically tiered “justice” system in America is a disgrace.

By: t3kna2007

t3kna2007 — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:41:00 +0000

Mark Twain would advise simply making it known that one possesses it, then grinning confidently and waiting for others to draw their own conclusions. That, and not shopping at an international big-box retailer.

By: jimkirk

jimkirk — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:39:00 +0000

It only has to work once…

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:35:00 +0000

Since I never take my reading glasses when I go out, I could easily accept and try to pass on a $1,000,000 bill. It’s just a blur.

By: Warren

Warren — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:34:00 +0000

His bail was $17,500 – I wonder how he paid that.

As for the $1mln bill in the first place, I’d believe it was a joke if he was dressed as Dr. Evil. As it is, the whole thing seems tragically like a case of the stupid failing to dupe the subpar.

By: Halloween Jack

Halloween Jack — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:33:00 +0000

I don't know about Wal-Mart, but Best Buy sure did.

By: CSBD

CSBD — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:27:00 +0000

Reasonable Man Standard must be applied here…

Is it reasonable to believe that Walmart employee ever fall for the old $1million bill gag?
Is it reasonable to believe that a counterfeiter believe that a Walmart has change for $1million? Do you how much that weighs in $5,s 10s, and 20s?

I remember reading that in many Walmarts, the cashiers are ignorant enough to call the police if you attempt to use a $2bill that is legal tender. If they won’t believe a $2 bill is real, why would anyone think that a $1million is going to work?

Finally, the guy should be let off for the Stone Cold Steve Austin 3:16 reference in the serial number.

The only thing more awesome would have been “Legal Tender, How does That Work” as a motto.

By: m1kesa1m0ns

m1kesa1m0ns — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:06:00 +0000

I have an uncle who is the undeclared King of Bad Jokes who does exactly this sort of thing. I could totally see him walking up with stuff he fully intended to buy, whip a $1m bill out, and say cheerfully, “Ever seen one of these?” After he got his jollies he’d pay for it with real cash.

It’s tempting to think it was just a bad joke, but it was $500 worth of stuff at a WalMart, so all bets are off. You can’t assume an intact sense of humor, or sense of reality for that matter.

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:57:00 +0000

I think he was either trying to be funny.. or has some kind of mental disability. Either way I doubt he would have put up a big fight if the cashier refused to accept his fake payment. Seems everyone overreacted big time.