I don't think I realised how much I was inconveniencing shop assistants by not giving them precise amounts of money until I got to Russia. I noticed that in Moscow, quite a few of them let you know the egregiousness of your breach of shopping etiquette by scowling, or by tutting loudly. Therefore, it's useful to recognise the requests, 'мелочь есть?', 'мелочь найдется?'(Do you have any small change/could you find some small change?) or expressed negatively, 'мелочи не будет/не найдется?'. Мелочь here means small change, although the word for the money you are given back when you pay more than the total price is 'сдача'.
