"$5 American is $4.50 Canadian"
The McDonald's cashier was trying to explain to the young, African American woman from Detroit that she needed more money.
The five young people from the Motor City were at the McDonald's on Wyandotte and Goyeau in downtown Windsor, Ontario, Canada. From outside the restaurant, you can see buildings from the Detroit skyline. But these young people felt far from home.
It was late on a Saturday night; clearly they had some reason to cross and were grabbing food before crossing back. They were Americans who live a stone's throw from a foreign country, and yet knew so little about the current economics — theirs and Canada's.
These young people at the McDonald's on a Saturday night are among many Americans who are ignorant of the currency and the economic situation.
-- the U.S. dollar is low. For political reasons having a lot to do with the huge trade deficit, the U.S. dollar is kept low. When traveling halfway across the world or just across a bridge or through a tunnel from Detroit, the dollar won't go as far.
-- the Canadian dollar is strong. Because the Canadian dollar has traditionally been so weak, things cost more regardless of the strength of the currency. Try buying a book or magazine in Canada.
-- you are a guest in someone else's country. In Windsor, you can use American money but you won't always get a fair trade. For years, Americans came over to take advantage of the weak Canadian dollar. Now the U.S. dollar is weak and the Canadian dollar is strong. Very few if any places in Detroit would accept Canadian money.
When I am in Canada, I like using Canadian money because it's polite to do so, and to reduce the chances of getting ripped off. I exchange my money at a local exchange or sometimes at the bank in the States. I pay the difference in exchange rates plus a fee. Even if the cost is the same, it's always worth using Canadian money.
The McDonald's rate was about 10%. Between the exchange rate and fees, I paid close to that, but since you don't always know what rate you will get, best to play it safe and get money exchanged.
It's also good to have some clue what you have in your pocket. Canadian money is similar enough to the American money: quarters, nickels, dimes, and pennies are very similar. The major difference is the loonie (see picture, left) and the toonie (see picture, right). The loonie is the Canadian dollar, the toonie is the 2-dollar coin. There are no $1 bills left in Canada.
This also helps because when you pay in American currency on the Canadian side, you get Canadian money in change. One of the gentlemen got a Canadian quarter back. He won't be able to use that back in Detroit, so he might as well starting saving Canadian money for the next trip over the border.
The loonie $1 Canadian coin (left) and the toonie $2 Canadian coin (right); picture from me
Some rather attractive women (in the eyes of society) who hail from Canada include supermodel 
