Nickel and diming you to death

With the winter holidays approaching (I swear they come faster every passing year), you're likely to be traveling. If you're heading overseas, you might want to keep your mittens on.

In their enthusiasm to homogenize European trade, they got a tad overzealous and made a rather large mistake that may cause European citizens and visiting tourists a great deal of discomfort.

The new euro coins are so toxic that they are not even safe in the pocket of your pants. Just five minutes' exposure is long enough to induce itching and inflammation in susceptible people. The reason is clear: The coins carry a nickel content 100 times the level considered safe in humans. People dealing with commerce, such as cashiers, are in for a rough time of it, since 15 percent of women and 2 to 5 percent of men are allergic to nickel.

If you know you're allergic to nickel, do not handle euros. If you are unsure, exercise caution when handling these coins.