We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Tony Bryer
saying something like:

A touching reminder of the UK in the 1960s is still here in
Australia - lay bys. If you see something in a shop that you want
but can't afford it, you pay a deposit for them to hold it for
you. So quaint.

Perfectly normal with every shopkeeper I've dealt with in the UK.
Tends to be more in the specialist market - cameras, hifi, etc, but
not one of them has ever refused me.