Day 1: While at the gas station anyway buying the needed lighters for So, So Fragile, I picked up a five-dollar bag of teriyaki-flavored beef jerky.

I then went to Breadsmith, a bakery specializing in bread, and attempted to buy a french roll (value: 65 cents). The cashier looked incredibly confused, and said "I don't think we accept that here." I explained that if she paid out of pocket the jerky was hers. She apologized profusely but explained that she didn't eat beef.

Next I tried a coffee shop (for those of you in the area, it's Coffee News Cafe, which definitely gets a shoutout for the coolness of the reaction). I explained that I was doing an experiment about the barter system, and tried to buy a cup of coffee. When asked where I went to school, I mentioned that it was not for a class, but told them (truthfully) that I went to the nearby college. The cashier commented that he didn't think anybody at the coffeehouse ate jerky, but gave me a cup of coffee anyway. He then accepted neither jerky nor money for it, and wished me luck with the task.

I was also told that they had once had some old, weathered man come in and claim to be from the U and saying he was doing a project about ancient Egyptian cooking techniques and needed their used frying oil. They didn't believe him; I don't know whether they gave him any anyway. (They said they did believe me, primarily because the jerky was clearly worth significantly more than the coffee.)

Day 2: You'd think if any place would be receptive to SF0 tasking, it would be the art supply store. No such luck. "I'm not allowed to do that," the cashier commented. The fact that there's a rule about this fills me with a strange sort of glee.

That evening I went to the Tea Garden, a genuinely awesome local chain that serves tea - both hot tea and bubble tea - and attempted to spend the jerky there. I was not optimistic; I fully expected vegetarianism to be my downfall yet again.

I selected a bottled soda from their fridge and offered them the jerky. The cashier helping me and another employee exchanged strange looks with each other before the one I was talking to said, "I probably can't do that for the soda, but you can have tea." So I ordered a relatively inexpensive but delicious tea drink, worth probably around 3.50, and gave them my jerky.

I have to say, actually carrying out the transaction made me feel slightly guilty - I guess the forces of capitalism have really got me programmed not to do that. So what spare change happened to be in my pocket all wound up in their tip jar, and then I drank my tea and went about my business.