I did not notice the penny in the parking lot as I ran into the grocery store to pick up food for dinner. I had exactly 18 minutes to grocery shop and be back in my van again. I was on a quest after work but before picking my kids up from school. It caught the sunlight as I opened my van door. I gave it only a moment of thought and then shut my door. I grabbed my phone opened the door and took a picture of the brown penny sitting beneath. I shut my van door and drove home as fast as I could without breaking the speed limit. Although my radio was on I only heard over and over again “See a penny pick it up.The whole day through you’ll have good luck.” I thought to myself I did not have the time to pick that penny up but I made the time to take a picture of it.
I ran past the penny in my hurried life the first time. The second time I choose not to pick it up for a few reasons that seem ridiculous but given our modern day ideas are justifiable. A penny is not worth enough for me to bend over and pick it up. Pennies have lost their value in my life. They weigh down my purse and I rarely use change. The second reason was that I did not know where that penny had been. It was on the asphalt of a parking lot. I did not want the germs. Lastly, it was not worth my time to pick up a penny I was in too much of a hurry.
If one of my children had seen this penny they would have picked it up and jumped for joy excited in having discovered a treasure. My younger children would be so thrilled that they would talk about it at dinner time. They have a simple appreciation for small treasures. I think I do also but I am no longer enchanted by a penny.
What is sad is that I left it there on the ground and found no joy in the treasure. But I think I am not alone. Our society places more value on our time than we do a penny. My question to you is this; would you have stooped down and picked up that penny and if so why?
Yes, I pick up pennies and delight in the shiney ones I get from purchases. Every 100th day of school my granddaughter receives from me 100 shiney pennies from that given year that I collect all year. Why, unsure, but only when I see a shiney penny do I say outloud, IN GOD WE TRUST!