# Picking up a Penny **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 16, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-a-penny/543431 "2010-06-16T16:23:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-a-penny/543431/21 "2010-06-19T08:39:51Z")
I’ve been purposely picking up every bit of dropped or lost money I find for a little over six months now - it’s not just about the penny, because habitually picking up money trains you to notice more. I started doing this in earnest on 1st December 2009 and since then, there has only been one working day when I didn’t find money. My fund at the moment exceeds £50, solely from this activity. [http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/project\_ebenezer](http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/project_ebenezer) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-a-penny/543431/22 "2010-06-19T16:17:55Z")
> [@qazwart](#): > > Okay, let’s get calculating… > > [huge snip] > > Now, can you say _Thank you modern science_. I knew you could. Bravo, sir. Very well done. ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-a-penny/543431/23 "2010-06-20T03:49:08Z")
Let’s suppose for the sake of argument that the street was lined with pennies placed two feet apart and I had complete freedom to either pick them up or not. Suppose it takes me five seconds for each penny. In one hour I can pick up $7.20 but to do so I will have to bend over and touch the ground over seven hundred times! Now imagine that you, like me, are over forty and don’t do yoga. What are the chances that you might injure yourself, either from losing your balance, or from overworking your back muscles, or even getting hit by someone riding a bicycle on the sidewalk who didn’t see you because you were bent over? How much would such an injury cost, not just for doctor bills but also for lost time? Hey I’ve got a job for you. Walk up and down this slab of concrete all day, as many hours as you like, bending over to touch your toes seven hundred twenty times per hour, and I’ll pay you minimum wage. The job does not include any medical benefits, not even workers compensation. Any takers? Count me out. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-a-penny/543431/24 "2010-06-20T07:28:22Z")
LOL. If I needed a job and that one was available, I’d take it. With my first day’s earnings, I’d buy a broom and long-handled dustpan. ---
**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-a-penny/543431/25 "2010-06-20T15:47:00Z")
> [@sbunny8](#): > > Let’s suppose for the sake of argument that the street was lined with pennies placed two feet apart and I had complete freedom to either pick them up or not. Suppose it takes me five seconds for each penny. In one hour I can pick up $7.20 but to do so I will have to bend over and touch the ground over seven hundred times! > > Now imagine that you, like me, are over forty and don’t do yoga. What are the chances that you might injure yourself, either from losing your balance That’s why we have kids… \*Now after you finish mowing the lawn and sweeping the sidewalk, I want you to walk down this street and pick up all the pennies. And, keep it down. Daddy’s taking his beauty nap.\* ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Chicago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Dr\_Chicago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Chicago)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-a-penny/543431/26 "2010-06-20T16:49:12Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Maybe I’m a faster counter than you but come on it’s simple grade school math..besides you have lots of time while you’re waiting in line. You only buy one thing at a store? I keep change in one pocket too, but it takes a moment to check it all and see if I have exact change once I get the total. The most consistent thing I buy is a gallon of milk, and I couldn’t tell you how much it is with tax. What I’m trying to say is this. Debit cards: exact change every time (except in San Francisco). ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-a-penny/543431/27 "2010-06-20T16:59:40Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’ve been purposely picking up every bit of dropped or lost money I find for a little over six months now - it’s not just about the penny, because habitually picking up money trains you to notice more. > > I started doing this in earnest on 1st December 2009 and since then, there has only been one working day when I didn’t find money. My fund at the moment exceeds £50, solely from this activity. > > [http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/project\_ebenezer](http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/project_ebenezer) I didn’t see a breakdown; how much of that is in 1p coins? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-a-penny/543431/28 "2010-06-20T21:15:15Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I didn’t see a breakdown; how much of that is in 1p coins? I’ll do a proper breakdown by denomination at the end of this month (the midpoint of the project) - off the top of my head, I think there is about £2.50 in pennies. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-a-penny/543431/29 "2010-06-20T23:55:01Z")
All of these 12, 18 dollars per hour figures I see are based on the assumption that it takes 3 (?) or so seconds to pick up a penny. The minimum wage in Ontario is $10.25, so it’s aaalmost a moot point. I don’t believe I could kneel to the ground and come back up in a low impact manner that quickly. Bending straight down several hundred times (to say nothing of several thousand) would probably hurt the discs in your lower back, and put you on penny-picking disability. I’m probably missing the point (like Cecil), but why calculate caloric value if you’re going over minimum wage? I think the point he was making was that you could ostensibly do minimum wage work (yard maintenance, heavy lifting, etc.), that burns more calories than bending over and pays less. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-a-penny/543431/30 "2010-06-21T11:22:34Z")
> [@Dr\_Chicago](#): > > You only buy one thing at a store? I keep change in one pocket too, but it takes a moment to check it all and see if I have exact change once I get the total. The most consistent thing I buy is a gallon of milk, and I couldn’t tell you how much it is with tax. > > What I’m trying to say is this. Debit cards: exact change every time (except in San Francisco). Err… Thank you Obi Wan! How do you not know how much tax you pay and at what rate? In some countries or even in some states in the US, food staples such as milk are exempt from taxes. Your’e right though, people who can’t read or count or even remember how much they paid for something they buy often should not attempt this trick. ``` We've had debit cards here in Canada for a lot longer than most and while convenient for you, they are an inconvenience for the staff and all the people waiting in line behind you. In fact, Tim Horton's won't accept debit cards for this reason. ``` FTR the store has to pay service charges and/or a percentage of each transaction, which is tacked on to the prices you pay. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-a-penny/543431/31 "2010-06-22T16:41:59Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I make it a point to pick up any coin I come across, even a 25-satang (0.77 US cent) piece, IF there aren’t too many people around watching who will make a remark about the “money-grubbing foreigner.” It makes my day if I find one, and the wife thinks I’m crazy for it. > > I also always check the coin-return slot of a pay phone I happen to be using. Say, maybe I AM money-grubbing. 😃 I don’t pick up pennies, or even baht coins here in Thailand, but I will anything bigger. It isn’t that I’m so fabulously wealthy I can disdain a baht, or that the hourly wage is too low. At my age the slight risk of hernia or head bumping needs to factor into the calculation! 🙂 I also check the coin-returns and find coins much more often than I would in U.S.A. And 20-baht notes lying on the ground seem more common than dollar bills on the ground in U.S.A. There’s a culture of honesty in Thailand that may seem incongruous. We knew a young lad who picked up a stray 20-baht note at school, was deprecated for it, and went home and hung himself! (There’a _very wierd_ further twist to _that_ story; buy me a beer and I’ll tell it to you!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picking-up-a-penny/543431.md?page=1)