"Can I have change of a dollar, please?"

With that request, I handed the coatroom attendant a single dollar bill. I needed the quarters (actually one quarter for the Whitestone Bridge.) She then handed me four quarters. The year was 1962 and the toll passage was 25 cents.

We had just met an old public school buddy of mine at a bar and restaurant on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. We shared some old stories and a few drinks. He had just mustered out of the Air Force. It was a wonderful evening up to that point. Then the lady coatroom attendant snapped "You never gave me the dollar. I gave you the quarters but you never handed me the dollar."

I looked at her quizzically and stated firmly, "A person never asks for change without extending the dollar first."

"Show me the dollar," she said as she stepped back from the cash drawer. She had obviously played this game many times before, with patrons who appeared to be tipsy.

I was not confused and I said, "I gave you the dollar and you are pulling a scam so why don't you call the police and they will settle the matter." I stood in front of the counter and traffic was piling up behind me. I was firm and not abusive and the situation became a stand off. She glared at me and I kept requesting her to call the NYPD.

After about 20 minutes my date who was turning red requested a solution. "Just give her the dollar and let's get out of here." It went against my sense of fairness, but I acceded and I gave her another dollar. As I repeat this story it still aggravates me. I should have stayed firm and waited the situation out. Would justice have triumphed? I am not sure, but other people were uncomfortable so I settled.

Last week I was on a cruise ship going to the Western Caribbean with my beautiful wife Lorraine. After supper, the ship turns into a floating casino. Slot machines, Black Jack, dice games, Caribbean Poker and a game called "Let-it-Ride" took over the activities.

Lorraine handed the cashier a $20 bill and asked for change in singles. The cashier, I observed, placed the $20 in the drawer and then asked for a $20 bill.

It was deja vu all over again.

It's amazing how a negative experience can trigger your memory back to a hurt that occurred 42 years ago.

Lorraine and I stood our ground this time. The cashier babbled about a camera that was trained on her cash drawer.

"We're not interested in your cameras and you are cheating us!"

She hesitated and then threw the 20 single dollar bills onto the table. Justice at last had triumphed!

The previous incident was not quite erased but redemption of a sort had happened.