There Ya Go
Find a penny pick it up and … hurry down into your basement and flip it into that massive storage canister in the corner of your laundry room.
Apparently, that is what people have been doing for years, decades even.
Unless you haven’t heard, we’re facing a crisis here in the U.S. — a penny shortage.
Excuse me? Did I say “penny shortage.” Yep, that’s right. Pennies are vanishing everywhere. And none are being made to replace them.
Is this a problem waiting for a solution, or a solution solving a problem?
Do we need pennies? I’m not sure. Personally, I loathe pennies. I hate all coins. I don’t even like touching them. Do you know where that penny has been?
President Donald Trump last February moved to eliminate the penny from U.S. pocketbooks. It has been reported that even before the coin’s final production run last month, U.S. retailers and banks were reporting widespread penny shortages.
Headache? According to the website “Stateline,” McDonald’s proposed legislation that mirrors Canada’s rounding policy following the 2012 elimination of its onecent coin. A New York bill calls for socalled symmetrical rounding of after-tax cash purchases to the nearest five-cent mark. Purchases ending with one, two, six or seven cents would be rounded down. And purchases ending in three, four, eight or nine cents would be rounded up. That means a consumer would get no cash back from a $1.99 purchase, but a retailer would hand over a nickel to someone spending $1.97.
A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers have proposed legislation in the U.S. House and Senate to require all cash transactions be rounded to the nearest five cents, but neither proposal has made it to a floor vote.
So, you can still use pennies if you have to, but you’re not getting any back. Find a penny, leave a penny? Not anymore.
At Casey’s in Tracy, there is a sign on the cashier’s counter that reads, “Due to the national penny shortage, we will be rounding your cash transactions down to the nearest nickel. There will be no impact to credit transactions.” I empathize with the workers there who have to explain what’s going on in their store, as if it was their decision or something. Remember everyone, just like gas prices, it’s not their fault. Give them a break.
There’s little doubt that we’re trending into a fully plastic world. Pennies are the first casualty, and there’s no doubt we’ll someday rid ourselves of nickels, then Editor
dimes, then quarters. What’s next? You got it — bills. The latter began years ago. When I covered the state wrestling tournament a few years ago, it quickly dawned on me that I would have had a better chance of buying a hot dog with a couple toilet paper squares than I would with a twenty. Patrons there have to buy their food with plastic — no physical money was allowed.
That’s fine, I guess, but there’s something reassuring about giving a cashier money because you know what it’s worth.
Plastic? Plastic is quick, convenient and initally uncomplicated, but be serious, how many of you know how much is on your card? How many of you even balance your checkbook? If you do, chances are you also write in cursive. I don’t. Yes, I know I could cover a few overpriced hotdogs at Grand Casino Arena while I’m covering state wrestling, but I’m old school, and I like the reassurance that if I have a $20 bill in my pocket, I know it’s worth $20. I know I’ll get change (except pennies, of course).
I’ll probably run it through the washing machine a few days later, but at least it works after it goes through the rinse cycle.
