Saturday, September 17, 2011

Spare Change

I like change. I like it at work. I like it in music. I like it in the seasons. I like it in most things, and I understand why I appreciate transformations. But one type of change, coinage, has me baffled. Why, oh why, will I stop and pick up nickels, dimes and yes, EVEN pennies that I pass in my daily travels? I spy a penny while I'm pumping gas, I pick it up. A nickel on the carpet at work? It's in my pocket. I've always been like this. What's this all all about? It's like I'm fixated on it. Some sort of fetish? I wasn't a Depression baby, so it can't be traced to that. I did have a paper route and Fridays and through the weekend, I was always stopping by houses to get paid and making change with my little metallic coin changer that I wore on my belt. Could that be it? I always liked to stack the pennies and roll them before my paper manager, Mr. Priest, arrived. At school, we banked weekly, and I always, it seemed, took change never bills to put in my school account. Could this be a root to my fondness for that jingling in my pocket? We weren't rich growing up, but then again never lacked for anything either. My parents did in still in us the adage that a 'penny saved is a penny earned', but never 'pick up every small coin you ever find'. My photo, today, is a scene I came across recently. Goldmine! I'm baffled. Can you help?
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29 comments:

  1. ElenkaSeptember 17, 2011 at 7:44 AM

    Yeah, I can help. I put them there.

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  2. BirdmanSeptember 17, 2011 at 7:49 AM

    Are you just messing with my mind?

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  3. Sharon CreechSeptember 17, 2011 at 8:02 AM

    I pick up coins, too - because I hear my parents saying 'a penny saved is a penny earned' but I like your reference to the paper route (oh, the metal coin changer! My brother had one. I wanted it.) and school banking. It's not crazy to pick up coins. This whole post starts out like a poem, birdman. Maybe tomorrow Elenka will scatter nickels for you.

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  4. JackSeptember 17, 2011 at 8:27 AM

    It is because you know you can't rely on Social Security in your old age.

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  5. Leif HagenSeptember 17, 2011 at 8:32 AM

    I think everyone has had a coin collection at one time in their life!
    I collect foreign coins...

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  6. SRQSeptember 17, 2011 at 8:36 AM

    I'm with you, Birdman! I pick up every coin I see. The question is: why wouldn't someone pick up a penny, nickel etc.? Btw, your photo depicts a reoccurring dream I had as a child...stumbling across scattered change. (If the dream was going really well, I'd also encounter a mound of chocolate bars, but I digress...) I presume you picked up all this change after you snapped the pic???

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  7. ElenkaSeptember 17, 2011 at 8:42 AM

    SRQ...no, he didn't. It's still right where I put it.

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  8. HalcyonSeptember 17, 2011 at 8:50 AM

    I like this photo. I must admit I never pick up pennies, but I'd probably stop for a nickel and definitely for a dime. :)

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  9. BirdmanSeptember 17, 2011 at 8:52 AM

    ... because I knew there was a photo opt here.

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  10. Clueless in BostonSeptember 17, 2011 at 8:59 AM

    I always used to bend over to pick up coins, but now with the bad back I don't bother and leave them for others to pick up. Of course when we were kids you could actually buy something (candy) for a penny, not so anymore. Those penny candies now cost about 29 cents.

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  11. CezarSeptember 17, 2011 at 9:17 AM

    That's a really nice post, with the image, words and... twist! :)
    Well done!
    God bless you!
    Cezar

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  12. TexWisGirlSeptember 17, 2011 at 9:35 AM

    i do it too! now, if there's a bunch of folks around, i probably won't stop to pick up a coin, but if only a few? sure! i grew up poor as a church mouse and never take anything for granted. my mother's waste not/want not mentality is still in me too.

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  13. VirginiaSeptember 17, 2011 at 9:40 AM

    Well Bird I'm taken with the composition and color as well! I'd stop and pick these up for sure, but only after I'd photographed them. I love finding some euro coins mixed in with my change after I come home from Paris!

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  14. LowellSeptember 17, 2011 at 10:16 AM

    Hey, coins are money. I do the same thing. When I was a kid living in Duluth, Minnesota, I found a bunch of coins in a window well of a church. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!

    Hope you are doing well. I read an article recently that claimed Portland was one of the top places to live in the U.S. I guess that's why you always stuck around, right?

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  15. PerthDailyPhotoSeptember 17, 2011 at 10:16 AM

    I do too Birdman, have you heard the expression 'find a coin and pick it up and all the day you'll have good luck' I mean, who doesn't want that!!

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  16. SharonSeptember 17, 2011 at 10:22 AM

    Oh my, I'm right there with you picking up pennies in the street.

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  17. MichelleSeptember 17, 2011 at 10:35 AM

    It's all money! I pick up coins as well. Just can't help myself.

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  18. LynetteSeptember 17, 2011 at 11:05 AM

    I saw don't worry about it one bit. Be glad that you can bend over and pick it up because that means you are flexible and able to control your fingers, and that's worth a whole lotta change!

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  19. RandySeptember 17, 2011 at 11:07 AM

    I do the same thing but for me it's just the reminder of the excitement of finding them as a kid. You could get a nice piece of candy or bubble gum for a few pennies.

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  20. Yogi♪♪♪September 17, 2011 at 11:18 AM

    I'm the same way, if I see a penny I pick it up even if I have to work for it a while. It's a policy thing with me.

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  21. VPSeptember 17, 2011 at 12:27 PM

    Somebody got a hole in a pocket? I always get any coin I can see, but I miss many now...

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  22. Regina KSeptember 17, 2011 at 1:02 PM

    I have always picked up coin off the ground recently I found a $1 bill at the airport I look around to see if someone realized they lost it and no one claimed it. I hit the jackpot.

    When my son was a teenager, he would throw pennies on the ground and I was astonished. The younger folks do not see a purpose in these coins would be my guess.

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  23. T. BecqueSeptember 17, 2011 at 1:52 PM

    Oh I needed a laugh, good post and photo! I have to admit, if I saw that pile, I'd probably stop too.

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  24. KathySeptember 17, 2011 at 8:05 PM

    But are you one of those men who plop the change on the dresser at night and start with each day with only bills, leaving the change to accumulate there on the dresser?

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  25. Bob CroweSeptember 17, 2011 at 10:30 PM

    Pure poetry. "Find a penny, pick it up, and all the day you'll have good luck," my mother used to say.

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  26. FranciscaSeptember 18, 2011 at 5:46 AM

    Perth and Bob are on to something here. It could be a luck thing. But it could also be something in our collective unconscious. I started picking up every coin I see after my honey (with the Asian mindset) told me that to leave it was to tell the gods/universe that you have too much, no need, so no more comes your way. :-D

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  27. UnknownSeptember 18, 2011 at 10:30 AM

    Cool post and photo to go with, Birdman.

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  28. AnonymousSeptember 18, 2011 at 5:04 PM

    Looks like Obamas Change..
    Nice find!

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  29. ReenaSeptember 18, 2011 at 11:22 PM

    I guess I only stop to pick up silver ... great photo!

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