The power was back on today, which meant they could move on to the lesson that had been bumped from last week. Cindy has sent the class an email to meet in the Danger Shop, which had been programmed to look like the Mall of America. Cindy was waiting for them in the center of the food court, though the sound was muted for right now, because she didn't feel like yelling over everyone.

"Welcome," she said, leaning against the Arby's counter and blithely ignoring the customers that occasionally walked past. She pointed at a nearby table, one with a slim briefcase on it. "Take a seat. For those of you who've never been to one of these, this is a shopping mall, an enclosed space filled with tens to hundreds of stores, restaurants, vendors, and random other ways to part you from your money."

Speaking of money, Cindy casually reached over the counter and took out a collection of bills from the register. "This is cash, the most basic form of legal tender in America," she explained, fanning out the collection of ones, fives, tens, and twenties. "There are also denominations of fifties and one hundred dollars, but the government stopped printing larger bills than that several decades back. We also have coins, which represent fractions of a dollar: pennies, which are a hundredth of a dollar; nickels that are a twentieth; dimes, which are a tenth; and quarters, which I'm guessing you're all smart enough to figure out. There are also fifty cent pieces and dollar coins, but they are rarer."

"I mention this is the most basic form of legal tender because there are others." Rather than mug any of the nice passing customers, Cindy pulled out cards made from plastic from her own purse. "Debit cards are connected to a checking account in your name. You use your debit card and money is taken from your account to pay for your purchase. Checks work on the same principles as a debit card, but they are slower. Credit cards are issued by a third party business who offer you a line of credit up to a certain amount of money. They'll loan you that money, but you have to pay a certain amount every month. These cards also charge interest, so if you borrow $100, you'll end up paying back $114, for example. It's how the company makes their money. Many credit cards offer different interest rates and incentives, but I suggest staying away from credit cards for awhile. The lure of 'free money' can be enticing and few people read the fine print."

Being a conscientious teacher, Cindy tucked her cards away, and then turned and put the money back in the till. She'd hate for the poor holographic kid behind the counter to lose his programmed job because the pretend money was off. "Now, the important thing about money is figuring out how much it's worth compared to other forms of currency. It's also very difficult to do; we have whole groups of people who make their living figuring that out every day. But while it's possible for me to look up how many dollars equal a euro today, trying to peg the dollar to your own currency is a little trickier. We could try figuring out how much items cost in your world and in this one, but that's not entirely helpful. Instead, I'm going to give you a chance to get a feel for the value of a dollar the old fashioned way: by letting you spend it."

Crossing to the table, she opened the briefcase. Inside were several stacks of cash and brightly colored plastic cards, one for each student. "You each have $250 in cash and a debit card connected to an account with $250 more. Your job today is to go shopping and try to spend as much of this money as you can. Spend it on a variety of items, both expensive and non. See what you can get. As a warning, prices are inflated at a mall; but this should give you kind of an idea of what you can get for $500. Meet back here about fifteen minutes before end of class and we'll talk."

[OCD up! Go shopping!]