Cents and Sense

Don't laugh at me, but I'm one of those people that pick up pennies off the sidewalk. I'll be walking along and see some free money lying on the ground, and I'll take it. Who wouldn't do the same? Well, it get's more complicated here in New York.

My sister says that I shouldn't pick coins up off the ground because they're filthy. But isn't everything pretty dirty here? Doorknobs, subway seats, change you get from the newspaper guy on the corner... So I'm not afraid of the dirt that might be on a penny, just because its on the ground. If it was in a puddle, I wouldn't go for it... unless maybe it was a quarter... (Hey, I'm really poor!)

Is it worth it, you ask? Why stop to pick up just one cent? If I picked up a penny a day, it would take 100 days to earn a dollar. Some people throw their pennies away because they don't want to bother with such small change. Maybe I'm just an optimist, but I feel like the more money I have the better, even if it is a few more cents. To quote a former boss: more is more!

The main problem I have with picking up pennies here is that it's a little embarrassing to do it in front of other people (for all of the above reasons) and there are people everywhere in this city. Sometimes I'll be walking along a sidewalk in Harlem, where people tend to congregate on steps and street-sides to hang out and talk. I'll see a penny or a dime on the pavement, and reach down to get it, only to see all these people staring at me. They're going to start thinking of me as that white girl who picks pennies up off the ground. Do I want to be known as that person? Well, I am that person! Might as well embrace it. And with my pocket jingling with pennies, I'm all the more richer for it.