No, this isn’t a post about Obama.
(It also isn’t a David Bowie post, for those who might get the title reference.)
It isn’t about change being “in the air”. It’s about change being on the ground.
Some enterprising folks have taken it upon themselves to “follow the money” - literally. Not only are they actively looking for dropped loose change on the ground, but they’re taking the time to post about the total amount of change found on a blog.
The idea is kind of fun, though no doubt much more interesting to news outlets in these harsh Eeekconomic times. It’s like, “Hey, check out these poor saps who are so hard up for money that their job is to rescue wayward pennies and dimes.”
Whole families are getting in on the action. And I have to admit that it could seem like a fun treasure hunt game for kids that also teaches them the value of a penny. I mean, what the hell can you buy with a penny nowadays? But add enough of them up - and you get a thousand dollars. Well, at least that’s the amount that the one blog below alleges they’ve found over the course of three years.
I do see a few potential problems with this. If I were REALLY into this game, I might start following guys with holes in their pockets. Or stalk the fumblefingery old ladies at the cash register. Or set up a tent on top of a vending machine so I could check the coin slots all day long. Or…
Visit: Changepot
Source: CNNnnnnnnn
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February 18th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
An easier and more reliable way to get a few pennies is to start a blog. That’s pretty much what you get to make.
Seriously though, while I don’t have a problem with this, some part of me feels uncomfortable because I think this is something homeless people do to help themselves out. In essence, if people who are better off than the homeless do it, they’re scraping up what someone who might seriously need it relies on. I’m not saying I take a hard line on this and am not in the least wagging a finger at people, but just that it’s the source of some uneasiness for me about this as a trend.
There’s a price to be paid for every move downward by someone who was a little higher up on the economic scale before the economy tanked and that price is paid by those who are even lower down. I just feel bad for those people.
February 19th, 2009 at 7:14 am
Orchid- It’s a little like how Whole Foods is doing poorly, but business for Walmart is up. Not that people who shopped at Whole Foods are now shopping at Walmart, they’re going to higher end but still cheaper places like Raley’s, people who shopped at Raley’s are going to regular grocery stores, and people who went to regular grocery stores are going to Walmart. People who shopped at Walmart, are still shopping at Walmart, because there’s not much farther down they can go.
February 19th, 2009 at 8:43 am
That’s funny. Sometimes when I have spare change I like to put it someplace where it’s a bit hidden but could still be easily found. It seems like a relatively cheap way to brighten somebody’s day. Not so much the monetary value, but that good feeling of ‘Hey! I found something!”
February 19th, 2009 at 9:27 am
@orchid - exactly! Starting a blog, maybe with the whole family, is a much more time-effective (not to mention safer) activity. Actually, I have a feeling that their ulterior motive behind talking about finding change and writing about it may in fact be getting a few pennies from a blog.
@holly - What’s Raley’s? I’ve heard someone mention that once before - is it like a Trader Joes?
@tracy - That’s pretty cool. I used to collect coins back in the 1980s. The old-timers used to do something similar called “salting”, where they would put rare key dates that they really didn’t need back into circulation to give the newbie collectors like me a chance of finding something cool in pocket change.
Actually, there was a story about a lady who would put out a free bunch of coins right in front of her house on a busy street - just so that someone could get a thrill of picking it up. Before the Eeekconomic meltdown, the coins might stay on the street for days. However, recently she noted that she sometimes had to replace the coins FIVE times a day because they would be picked up quickly by people looking for change! Sign of the times…
February 19th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Bryan-Raley’s is a pretty typical, somewhat upscale supermarket, the kind that has a coffee shop in it, and occasionally has sale prices that are marginally better that cheaper stores.
I didn’t know one could make any money off a blog! I always thought they cost money. Shows how with it I am!