As you might imagine, I was pleasantly surprised when The Pony climbed into A-Cad, and held out a baggie full of change. "I thought you might need some coins." It goes without saying that he knew I would give him money for them. They were not a gift.
"I always need coins for my 44 oz Diet Coke."
"I figured I'd give them to you for five dollars."
"Okay."
"Huh. That's worth way more than five dollars!" Said Hick, who hadn't been consulted, taking his eyes off the deathtrap that is I-35 past Norman, on the way to Riverwind Casino.
"I don't recall asking you! But okay. I don't want to cheat The Pony. Let's see. How much is a roll of quarters? Twenty dollars? I can give you twenty dollars."
"OKAY! Thanks."
Let the record show that Val is out of practice rolling coins. Back in the day of operating an ongoing fundraiser to buy things for her classroom, by selling after-school sodas and snacks to students, she could have told you that a roll of quarters is TEN dollars. A fact remembered when I started counting up that baggie of coins on the way home.
It held $12.80. Darn that Hick! First he had to open his fat trap about the bag holding more than $5 worth of coins. Then he nodded that a roll of quarters is worth $20. I really don't want to believe that The Pony and Hick were in cahoots...
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I almost missed the first penny of the week. Actually drove right past Orb K on WEDNESDAY, March 6. I was preoccupied with my trash. My trash bill, specifically. A bill which I received, even though I paid for a full 12 months back in October. Dang it! I meant to go in Orb K and buy two scratchers by cashing in a $10 winner. Good thing the prison is conveniently on my route, with a wide entrance for making a U turn!
I went back to Orb K. It was only about a half mile. There was a line backed up to the door. Well. I'd made a U-turn to come back, so I wasn't walking out of there. When I was next-to-next in line, I saw A PENNY! Hiding under the energy supplement rack. The penny. Not me...
I couldn't get a closeup, but this Lincoln was face UP. I could have gotten a closeup, but then I'd have been flaunting my ample rumpus in the face of the guy behind me. Flaunting it more than Hick flaunting a $5000 house! I kept my dignity, and did without the closeup. The penny was a 2013, the year Genius graduated from high school. I'd just been texting him that morning, too.
When I was next in line, a new clerk opened up the other register. I pointedly refused, not wanting to give up my prime piece of real estate, convenient for nabbing that waiting penny while my clerk was getting my tickets. So I stayed behind the dude in front of me. You can see his arm, which kept trying to get in the way of my penny-picture. He bought a fifth of vodka and two cans of Skoal. Not that I'm judging.
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2019 Running Total
Penny # 18.
Dime still at 3.
Nickel still at 2.
Quarter still at 1.
2018 TOTALS
Penny 131
Dime 17
Nickel 6
Quarter 1
2017 TOTALS (Started in March, 2017)
Penny 78
Dime 6
Nickel 0
Quarter 0
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I wouldn't fault him for the vodka but I would caution him against the Skoal. And you know you could crop that picture of the penny once you get home though I tried it on my PC and it just looks like a black spot.
ReplyDeleteI like to show my penny in its natural surroundings. A cropped picture would make them all look alike. I almost panicked when I looked at the picture just now. I thought I missed a penny out in the open! Upon zooming in, I saw irregular edges. Like it was a wood chip similar to the cedar shavings Juno shakes off when she exits her house.
DeleteI swap my son's loose change for notes too. I go there a couple of times a week and do a bit of random tidying up while scooping up loose change, then I add it up, round it up and leave him a note, usually a $5, sometimes a $10, then if his coins were significantly below the round-up note, I'll pocket a few each time until I've made up the difference. I did once give him a jar to put them in and that worked for a while, now the jar sits empty and I go around collecting coins again.
ReplyDeleteI think we are enablers. I'm sure The Pony only picks up his coins a few times a year, when he knows I'll be there to pay him.
DeleteHad me on the roll of quarters too. Don't remember the last time I rolled them, but forty to a roll...yeah, not $20. These days the bank just dumps change in a machine and tells you how much. Tell pony to get a large jar and throw all his change in just like every other dude in the world.
ReplyDeleteLike River discovered with her son, I think The Pony's jar would sit empty. Walmart also has a change-counter near their service desk. I don't know if it spits out bills, or if you have to take a receipt to a cashier for reimbursement.
DeleteAn Energy Supplement Rack? I need to get out more and try and understand the world around me.
ReplyDeleteThat place seems to sell a lot of energy. I guess because it's right on the interstate, and drivers use them to stay awake. I'd say it was for truck drivers, but big rigs can't easily make the turn into Orb K. I rarely see truckers there, unless they're making deliveries, like gas tankers.
DeleteMy son threw out a couple of energy drinks today while I was there, his doctor says he can't drink them anymore because they make his heart race. We sure as heck don't want a heart attack on our hands, he's only 38.
ReplyDeleteI used to worry about the students, telling me that they'd had two or three energy drinks before school. Sometimes, their face was bright red. I suggested that maybe such supplements were not good for their blood pressure. But you know how kids are...
DeleteThose energy drinks are not good for anyone, especially kids! I don't have them in my cooler. Kids ask for them all the time, I do have coffee drinks and it always amazes me that parents will let their toddlers have them. Not my kids!
ReplyDeleteDang! I wouldn't even let The Pony have Mountain Dew! He had to have Sprite, a no-caffeine product. It's amazing how their behavior can change with just a little caffeine.
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