Coinstar lives up to its name

My mom recently suggested that I start checking these machines whenever I'm in the grocery store. Apparently more than half of the time, there's money left in there.


Apparently, the problem is that some coins don't go in. Either a foreign nickel slips past you, or something too old/worn to be accepted by the machine. So the machine spits the coins into the receptacle, allowing people to take them back.


Thing is, though, that our instant gratification culture has trained us to take the money and run. So people, gift card in hand, go on their merry way without pawing through the discarded change leftover.


I finally remembered to try this out myself. Sure enough, there was 12 cents just sitting there. Someone had actually put it up on the counter. I was more than happy to relieve said counter of its heavy dime-and-two-pennies burden.


And, okay, that didn't exactly pay for our grocery trip or anything. But now that there are no pay phones to check for loose change, what are we grab-fueled Americans supposed to snoop around in?


Has anyone else noticed this about Coinstar? Or some other venue? I'd be interested to hear some feedback on this.