Pennies in America

A pen pal told me Krogers in Texas no longer deals in change.  They don’t accept or hand out coins.  They issue some kind of debit card for the change.

That reminds me of an incident at the Post Office years ago.

POSTAL and AMERICA story.  When a carrier returns from his/her route they check in with the accountable clerk.  Any money transactions, such as C.O.D.,s postage dues, stamps sold, etc, are turned in to the clerk. 

The clerk Robert told me this:

A carrier was checking in the money he had collected and he dropped a couple of pennies.  He bent over and picked up the coins.  He had an accent.

The carrier behind him, also with an accent scolded him saying, “Don’t pick up those pennies, this is America!  We no longer have to pick up pennies!”

Well, somebody does!  Someone  might slip and fall!

Besides, one of the Founding Fathers of America, Benjamin Franklin had some wise quotable saying about pennies., like “A penny saved is a penny earned.”

Wait did they even have pennies back then?

I still pick up pennies when I drop them, even if it does hurt my bones when I bend over.