The thrill of finding money in the world never gets
old. I’ve found so much over the
years. Our land is littered with paper
money and coins. Pennies are the most
common money I find, of course. It may
sound ridiculous to pick up a penny off the ground, but I’m one cent richer
than I was before I found that penny, and I didn’t have to do anything to get it.
I never realized my love of scavenging money until my kids
were little. I was appalled when they’d
crouch down to pick up a penny lying in an oily puddle or stuck to a piece of
gum, but invariably I’d take it from them and put it in my pocket, to be washed
and returned to them when we got home. I
felt their triumph when they’d spy something of value thrown away like trash,
and I started encouraging them to keep their eyes open. My son once found two dollars on the ground. He is hooked.
Not everyone feels this way about scavenging money. My girlfriends and I walked through a parade
route one evening. I advised them to
keep their eyes to the ground; with all these people around, maybe we’d find
money. They all laughed at me and rolled
their eyes.
I didn’t find any that time.
But I have in the past.
On two different occasions I found a twenty dollar bill. Just the other week I found sixty-five cents
in my neighborhood. Yesterday I felt a
pang of jealousy as a woman, obviously also a money scavenger, stooped over in
front of me in the grocery store to collect several coins strewn on the floor.
A money-scavenging kindred.
My competition.
When my husband and I traveled to New Orleans recently,
someone was throwing stacks of what I assume were dollar bills off a balcony into the street,
about a half a block away. I was
irritated because my husband had ducked into a street bar to get a drink. As I waited for him I watched as it rained
dollars down on the heads of the people standing in the street. It took all I had not to run over and hip-check
those people out of the way to collect mine, but I needed my husband as
back-up. By the time I got there, all
the money was gone. Not even one lone
dollar was stuck in the gutter or in a crack on a window trim. I had missed the ultimate money scavenging
event.
Scavenging money is not only accomplished out in the world. Today I found four dollars while doing
laundry – one of my family members left it in his or her pocket. Winter coats are always fair game for
scavenging. Other family members’ coats,
of course. I have only ever found money
in my pocket one time.
I still can’t believe I left money lying around. Who DOES that?
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I'm not alone!!!! I get mocked for picking up coins in the street, in parking lots, along the curb next to parking meters (great place to look Saturday mornings!), and I also claim any loose coins in the bottom of the hamper.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how much money is simply lying around. Now I know I have competition for it.
It's in our genes. I money scavenge, but recently, I've taken to flipping over tails-up coins for the karmic benefit to me and the good-luck benefit to the person who finds the heads-up coin I just flipped.
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