A penny for your thoughts.....as we’re nickeled and dimed…..dollared, too? Reminds me…..
You may have guessed what has prompted this topic -- a fast food restaurant employee, then the manager on another occasion deliberately withheld a penny I was owed in change. The employee said they were deliberately doing so to eliminate dispensing loose pennies. When I called each of them on the error, at least the employee appeared chagrined, but another time when the manager shortchanged me, I didn’t even get an apology, just a silly grin, even after I said I lived on a fixed income and every penny counted. I figure if he gets away with cheating me on a penny he might just decide to escalate the amount to see how much more he can get away with doing.
This restaurant has since closed for remodeling, has remained so for months now since the Covid-19 virus emerged, so I’ll have to wait a while to see how they conduct their business when they reopen.
First they would take our pennies – rounding off to the higher number i.e. $6.00 if actual cost is $5.99 – then, could nickels be next, followed by dimes, etc., I wondered? This called for a Google search which led me to discover pennies were phased out in Canada beginning in 2013. And…an economist there has said the nickel could be next.
Coin elimination discussion has been occurring periodically, prompting pro and con responses you can access by clicking on either of these nation links: United Kingdom, U.S.A. (https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/04/02/two-senators-announce-plan-to-eliminate-penny-replace-dollar-bi/22022666/ )
Actually the United Kingdom has decided to keep pennies in circulation even as we move toward a cashless society.
As for eliminating our paper dollar the view on doing this has flipped since discovering over the last decade the dollar bill is actually lasting twice as long as it did so no reason to change now.
Whatever your point of view, this minor insignificant coin issue does serve as a slight momentary distraction from all the other world matters boggling our minds.
Now, it seems we have an actual coin shortage in the U.S. Actually, officials describe the issue as simply a supply and demand problem, that there is no real shortage.
“The coin shortage could renew the debate about the fate of the penny, which has faced calls for abolition because its purchasing power has fallen and its cost of production has eclipsed its value.”
Eliminating the penny in the U.S. has not yet occurred. Until it does, then I expect exact change when I make a purchase, and that includes receiving even one penny if that’s what I’m due. If a business wants to keep that penny, then they need to ask my permission to do so or raise the price of their product to eliminate needing to give me a penny in change.
Meanwhile, I’ll continue to count my pennies, pick one up from the sidewalk as I did when a child, since finding one is considered to be a good luck sign, even though I claim to not be superstitious.
Pennies From Heaven
This youtube video is from the 1981 movie of the same title starring Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Jessica Harper, Christopher Walken. The original movie starred Bing Crosby in 1936. This 1981 movie version is an unappreciated musical showcasing Steve Martin’s talents beyond being just a crazy comedian as he was known at the time.
There are some additional videos of music, dance scenes you can view including Christopher Walken in his prime dancing “Let’s Misbehave” – a male striptease act bar none.
