Pennies in Your Hand

Hello Scribes,

Don't judge me, I love pennies. Shoot, some people in my family even call me Penny - I don't think that name fits me, but I answer to it.

My family had penny jars all around our house. Every couple months my parents would have us pull out the buckets, shoe boxes, and jars and count the money. We would sit on the floor under piles of coins; it taught us how to count money and sort. It was a good family activity - Mommy or Daddy had to check our math before we could roll the coins. I grew up during a time when people were not ashamed of pennies.  We would buy penny candy and share it with our friends. We would see people shopping at the grocery store with rolled up coins. All coins were important.

From my childhood I still have a cowgirl piggy bank that my aunt gave me. Every few months when it fills up, I take it to the bank and cash it in to my daughter's bank account. At one time I have taken almost $50! She is happy and feels rich when I come home with a sticker and a receipt from the bank. I try to teach my daughter not to despise them either. The last time I checked, pennies still make dollars.

Maybe you can imagine that I was quite surprised the other day when I saw a woman in downtown Pittsburgh standing over a public trash can sorting coins in her hand and throwing away pennies! I couldn't address all of the feelings that stirred in me while watching her discard that money. I wanted to shake her by the shoulders and rebuke her for being wasteful but I kept walking. With every "clink" of coins into the trash can I cringed. I heard her money dropping from two blocks away. When I told my daughter what I saw she said, she would have looked at the lady and asked her, "Can I have them [sic] pennies? It's just a waste of money." I don't know why it bothered me so much that I was offended. I mean, they are just pennies, right?

But it all made sense the next day when I saw a man counting coins so he could get on the bus. I was upset at the one who was carelessly throwing away value while the other was carefully gathering it.

What will you do with the pennies in your hand?

I don't know why she felt the need to throw money away while standing a few feet away from several homeless people. A thoughtful person would have given that money to someone who needed it to buy a dollar sandwich. Maybe I just have a different expectation of people. I have heard stories about people throwing away brand new expensive clothes because they were too small. We all walk a different path, I just can't forget mine.

Unlike that woman, I want to be thoughtful with my pennies. I want to be careful to remember that financially, spiritually and emotionally small things add up to big things when I am intentional. Just like I say, "One day at a time" I  will be careful and intentional. I never want to be seen as wasteful or ungrateful and that takes a lot of reflection on my part to be intentional in these ways:

• With the pennies of my words of affirmation that impact other people, 
• With the pennies of my actions that reflect who I am as a woman, and 
• With the pennies of my interactions toward other people

Today I challenge you to think about how you will treat the pennies in your hand. I want you to tweet me @ScribeCoach or tag me in your IG photos @Penscribed. I want to see what you will do with the pennies in your hand.

UnpluckableMe,