I suppose this falls into the category of random personal observation. More diary-worthy and less  blog-worthy. Or sponge-worthy.

(Obscure reference!)

I was out slogging around downtown Long Beach … and I found not one but two pennies lying in the street. Separate locations. One on Second Street. The other on First Street.

And I thought there was a recession on. We’ve got money lying on the ground and nobody is picking it up.

I know. I know. Can’t buy anything with a penny. A penny saved is a penny … that you have to carry around. What’s the point of stooping and bending to pick up one of the little suckers?

Turns out, I have some “relationships” with pennies that prompt me to pick them up.

1. I told myself a long time ago I would never be someone who was too good/too important/too anything … to walk past a penny on the ground. I decided picking them up was an act of humility. Or something. It just seemed like a good thing to do. To rescue that penny from the middle of the street, where cars were rolling over Old Abe’s head. I’ve been picking them up for decades. I will come to a stop during a (timed) slogjog and pick up a penny.

2.  I have this plan to get pennies back into circulation. So, any time I’m going into a situation where I might be asked to pay something that ends in small change (like, $12.31), I want to get a penny out of my pocket rather than take four pennies from the cashier. I carry them with me into places where I will be paying cash.

Well, yes, there is a dichotomy at work here. If I’m trying to bring some value to all my pennies by feeding them back into the economy, aren’t I fighting against myself by bringing home extra cents found on the ground? Well, yes. But No. 1 (above) supersedes No. 2.

And, also, 3) I consider finding a penny to be potentially lucky. I can’t say I can associate any given episode of “luck” with picking up a penny. Aside from my whole life, which has been pretty lucky, so far, gotta admit.

So, I was twice as lucky when I found two pennies on the same 40-minute slogjog … and it also allowed me to get “my two cents’ worth” into a head — and mean it. Literally.