‘See a penny, pick it up and all the day you’ll have good luck.’
Published 9:55 am Wednesday, November 12, 2008
I came out of a convenience store the other day and saw a penny lying on the pavement.
I pick up pennies.
“See a penny, pick it up and all the day you’ll have good luck.”
I think that finding and picking up a $20 bill brings even better luck.
I grew up being advised, “Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves,” “A penny saved is a penny earned,” and “Count your pennies.” Such counsel caused me to become a frugal person. A frugal person is a cheap one who has been to a seminar.
When I pick up a penny, there is usually someone nearby to give me that “Poor old Batt must be down on his luck. Maybe I’ll drop another penny on the ground after I buy my coffee and doughnut” look.
I pick up pennies. I can’t help myself. Some people say that they would lose money by taking the time to pick up a penny. I figure as long as I bend my knees properly and don’t injure my back, it’s worth my time to add a cent to the Batt fortune.
I bent over and picked up the penny. It’s good exercise and I get paid for it. Picking up an orphaned penny is better than a penny earned. A found penny is tax-free.
Once I pick up a penny, I have to decide what to do with the coin. I could put it in a penny loafer, but I don’t have a penny loafer to put it in. I’ve never had penny loafers. I’ve always been willing to loaf without pay.
I could pay someone a penny for his or her thoughts.
I could put it on the railroad track and flatten it.
I could use it for some body piercing jewelry. I have no body piercing, but I could keep the penny handy in case of a nail gun accident.
I could sell it to someone on eBay for a nickel.
I could toss it into a wishing well and wish I had the penny back.
I could use it as a payment to a creditor who had angered me.
I could play dice with the penny. I’d need five pennies to take the place of one die. I would start at one and then flip all five pennies. Heads would add one and tails would be zero.
I could frost the penny in the freezer and put it down my wife’s neck on a hot summer day to act as an emergency air conditioner.
I could use it as a replacement for a lost checker — making the head side a king.
I could glue it to the heel of my shoe and tap dance or send a podiatric Morse Code.
I could give the penny to a friend and then my luck would never end.
I could take it to the bank, deposit it and tell the teller there, “See, I do, too, have a job!”
I could use it to scratch off a lottery ticket if I ever buy one.
I could fill a sock with pennies and use it for self-defense.
I could play penny ante poker.
I could use it to measure the tread on my car’s tires. If I see “In God We Trust” above Lincoln’s head, it’s time for new tires.
I could place it on the grave of a loved one to let the deceased know that I am thinking of him or her.
I could flip it and make the penny my new financial adviser.
I could save it and give it to a trick-or-treater next Halloween. The disguised child would likely toss the penny on the ground and I could pick it up again.
I could use it to alter the pH of my soil.
I could use it for added weight on a kite’s tail.
I could place it over a doorway for good luck.
I could ask an older man what he used to be able to buy for a penny.
Or I could remember these words, “I found a penny today, just lying on the ground. But it’s not just a penny, this little coin I’ve found.
“Found pennies come from heaven, that’s what my grandpa told me. He said angels toss them down. Oh, how I loved that story.
“He said when an angel misses you, they toss a penny down. Sometimes just to cheer you up, to make a smile out of your frown.
“So do not pass by that penny, when you’re feeling blue. It may be a penny from heaven that an angel has tossed to you.”
That’s why I picked up that penny.
Hartland resident Al Batt’s columns appear every Wednesday and Sunday.