REFLECTIONS FROM THE REARVIEW
  • Home
  • Hello and Welcome
  • Blog
  • Worth Repeating
  • My Book
  • FAQ

Priceless... December 21, 2019

2/24/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
PENNY for your thoughts.
I don't have a red cent
showing up like a bad penny
waiting for the penny to drop
penny wise pound foolish
penny saved is a penny earned

If you repeat these sayings to your kids one day, they will ask you… what is a penny?

What IS a penny?

We disregard it, it IS after all, small change as the saying goes. Good riddance, it was more trouble than it was worth.

Sit down one day. Add up all the things in your life that you take for granted. And ask yourself which of them might be some day obsolete. You might be chocking up a list already the rotary telephone, the land line, fax machines, VCR, DVD players, analogue TV's, turntables, Sony Walkman, 35mm film, encyclopedias, floppy disks, phone books, the typewriter, newspapers, external hard drives, mailboxes, DVD movies, the pay phone, CASH, a writing pad, wrist watches. The list can be endless depending on how old you are.
Ok, you will never miss those things, they are just THINGS, aren't they? They are a piece of your history some day they will be gone, just as people never envisioned the chariot or the toga ever disappearing from the scene. Change is invariable constant. You can't avoid it. Some things must necessarily pass away.

This is a lament for the penny. Now a lament, is a literary form that is sometimes misunderstood. It's not about bitching and whining, or the insistence that everything new is bad and everything old is good. A lament marks the passing of something from the landscape of the human heart. While an object may be passing from the world in a physical sense, a lament is an expression of love, it seeks to preserve a memory that was good, or a quality of the heart that is associated with that object.

You all have associations with THINGS that are innocuous to anyone else. Think of what comes up in the human heart when you hear a certain song, or you smell a certain perfume, or the aroma of cooking. There are lots of elemental things that go on with people that have to do with the use of small insignificant objects whose passing no one would notice. For me, the penny is one of those things. It's not just a penny to me.

Let me tell you what I see when I conjure up this penny, and maybe you will see why I must register a lament for its passing.

When I look at this penny, first of all I see the Queen. Now she's in her 80's an not likely to be with us much longer, but I spent EVERY day at school early on, singing GOD SAVE THE QUEEN, not Oh Canada. If this penny had Pierre Trudeau or Stephen Harpur on it, it just wouldn't be the same. ROYALTY reminds me of comportment, that there are certain lofty ideals like loyalty and service to something corporate, bigger than myself that I must remember.

And then there IS the MONETARY value. One cent. It doesn't even count any more. AND YET, the apparent value of something is sometimes misinterpreted just like the saying, people who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

For me, to look at a penny, is to be TEN YEARS OLD all over again. It's a hot summer's day in late August with nothing to do and school is going to be starting again soon. Me and my best friend have hopped on our bikes with a fishing pole, a can of beans and some matches, a jackknife and a baloney sandwich in our backpack. We don't know exactly where we are going to go, who we are going to see, only that we are going to be home slightly after our curfew when the streetlights come on, tired in a good way and dirty all over in a way that has mined all the possibilities out of what comes our way. I'm in my bare feet. I haven't seen my shoes since June, and it is almost September so I know that even if I step on a piece of glass, it won't bother me because of the thick callouses on the bottom of my feet. My mother is going to go crazy and make me take a scrub brush to myself before I am EVER allowed to climb into bed tonight. I'm going to walk the railway tracks, the iron burning hot on my feet. If I find a penny, maybe I can put my ear to the rail and see if there is a train coming, and I can put the penny on the track and when the train passes by there will be one big flat piece of copper left behind. Or maybe me and my friend will find pop bottles on the side of the track that busy and carless teen-agers have tossed along the way. A pop bottle is worth two cents. that means that if I find ten of them, the guy at the corner store is going to carefully count out twenty red pennies into my palm and I will be momentarily rich from good fortune.

Twenty cents? What can that buy? What's the point of twenty cents?

You know dollar stores? They used to be called the five and dime. Twenty cents for a kid in about 1970 would buy a LOT. You could get you some of those little rockets that you could shoot with an elastic band, some of the parachute army men, maybe a water pistol or an elastic gun, a kaleidoscope, a rubber ball. Or, CANDY. We all forgot about candy because at some point you now buy it at the grocery store from bulk bins, and it is pricey. Used to be that penny candy was a staple of the economy of those mom and pop corner stores, and kids would be the main customer. At three for a penny, twenty cents would send you away with a considerable brown bag of candy. Liquorice babies, blackballs, Bazooka Joe bubble gum complete with the joke or the stuff you send for if you saved up your wrappers. Everybody knew that if you got enough wrappers, you could send away for a submarine, it's true my friend heard about a kid who did it. I can't remember how many wrappers except that he must have saved up for a whole year. You can get Batman playing cards with some gum in it even thought the gum is really old and hard. You can trade those with your friends. I have all of them except for the Joker which is really hard to get. I keep on getting Batman and Robin over and over again, and I keep trying to trade those off. Got it, got it, got it, got it, need it, need it, need it, got it…. And then there are the foam strawberries or bananas. A bag of candy is sitting for an afternoon in luxury up in a tree fort somewhere, in the joy of gluttony and watching the rest of the world go by. Maybe it's buying an ice cold orange crush from the fridge for five of those pennies and sitting luxuriously with your friends on the shore, after a dip in the river takes the edge off the heat. Five cents could also buy a superman comic book that always had that Charles Atlas ad we all were going to send away for so we could get muscles too, and beat up the bullies. This penny, is the ultimate buying power of pure fun with nothing attached to it. It's not money that is destined for any savings account or designated to pay any bill.

I have this penny and I'm going to carry it in my pocket. What is impossible to see, is that there is a big piece of me in this penny, that is worth more than I can add up. It's the chance for me to be ten years all over again, with that first blush of independence, some money in my pocket, and endless possibilities for what the day might bring up. See this penny, pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck. The value of this tiny one cent piece is a world of reverie and endless possibilities. It's the part of me that will forever be ten years old.

Are you feeling the love? Some things in life, some memories especially, are worth more than money. And that, my fellow toastmasters, is my two cents worth
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    UNCOMMON
    ​THOUGHTS

    ...about common things. 
    ​

    Categories

    All
    Accidental Story
    Activist
    A Display Of His Splendour
    Adjusting The Recipe
    Ad Man
    A Flannery O'Connor Moment
    After The Tiger
    A High Christology
    A Little Bit Redneck
    All About Widgets
    Allah Wallahi
    All I Got
    Al Low Vs The Man
    All Roads
    All Saints
    Almost
    A Long List Of Thank Yous
    Amazing Grace
    A Month Of Sundays
    And A Little Child Shall Lead Them
    And Make It Beautiful
    An Offer You Can’t Refuse
    An Officer And A Gentleman
    Antique
    A Pile Of Wood And A Plan
    Are We There Yet?
    Artifact
    As Simple As Sunshine
    A Tale Of Two Crosses
    At Hand
    Attending To Beauty
    At War
    Baby Boom
    Bad-Ass Outlaw
    Bad Faith
    Badlands
    Bad Math
    Baked Boiled Or Fried?
    Balcony Lady
    Barcode
    Beautiful By Design
    Beauty For Ashes
    Beauty On Purpose
    Being Different
    Being Human
    Belial
    Beneficence
    Best For Last
    Better Mousetrap
    Betty Toop
    Beware Of God
    Beware Of Men Who Cry
    Big Buts Of The Bible
    Bit Part
    Blessed Are The Pew Warmers
    Bound For Beauty
    Brazier
    British Invasion
    Bronte Oak
    Bucket List
    But If Not
    But Is It Sandable
    But Is It True?
    Buyer Beware
    Call To Prayer
    Camp Of The Unknown God
    Cant
    Carlton The Delivery Man
    Car Wash
    Chaos
    Cherry Picking
    Cherry Top
    Civil Disobedience
    Class Monitors And Safety Patrols
    Click Bait
    Clothing Optional
    Cloud Of Witnesses
    Colour Blind
    Coming To My Senses
    Contra Mundum
    Couldn't Not
    Counting The Cost
    Covid Cut
    Crazy
    Creed
    Crooked Made Straight
    Crucified Man
    Curated
    Curse Of Adam
    Damascus Road
    Dangerous
    Dangerous Chemicals Of My Youth
    Data Overload
    Day Of The Dead
    Deliver Us From Evil
    Deposit Of Faith
    Dieu Et Mon Droit
    Different Drum
    Distressed
    Dog House
    Doing Church
    Doing The Lord's Work
    Doing The Math
    Do It Yourself
    Dominion
    Dominus Vobiscum
    Do-Over
    Do Something!
    Dreaming And Doing
    Edifice
    Egging Armour Hill
    English Leather
    Ensign
    Even As I Am Known
    Even Me
    Even Stranger Things
    Exiles
    Experience Wanted
    Faithful Servant
    Fallow Season
    Family Bible
    Family Business
    Feeling It
    Fellowship Of The Brush
    Field Of Faith
    First World Chair
    Fit As You Go
    Five Minutes
    Fixing The Machine
    Flawed People
    Flock Of Angels
    Follow The Money
    For A Season
    For A Time Such As This
    Fortissimo!
    Forward
    French Horn
    From A Distance
    Frozen Man
    Funny Words
    Gateway
    Genetic Lottery
    Gifting
    God Calling...
    God Save The Queen
    Going In!
    Gone But Not Forgotten
    Gone Fishing
    Good Bones
    Good God Almighty
    Good Government
    Good Luck Skippy
    Gott Mit Uns
    Greatest Is Love
    Great Reset
    Grocery - A Short Story
    Gross Anatomy
    Grunt
    Haka!
    Hammer And Tong
    Hammer Time
    Hands And Eyes
    Hands On
    Happy Rooster
    Hardwired
    Hearing Voices
    Heavy LIfting
    Hello My Juan
    Helping God Show Off
    Hidden In The Secret Place
    Hid In My Heart
    High Dudgeon
    History Bites
    Hockey Tape And Rubber Bands
    Hodge Podge
    Holy Disorder
    Holy Father
    Home Economics
    Hymn Stories
    I AM
    I Cannot Help You
    I Could Be Wrong
    I Dare You
    Idiots
    If You Build It
    If You Get There Before I Do
    If You Go I'll Go
    Im Khalil
    Impossibly Cute
    In A Strange Land
    Incarnation
    In Code
    Incomplete
    Individual
    Influencer
    In My Own Time
    Inner FIfteen Year Old
    In Praise Of Culture
    In Praise Of The Middle
    In The Details
    In The Spirit
    In The Usual Manner
    Invader
    It's All A Stage
    I Will Remember
    Jackass
    Je Me Souviens
    John Henry
    Judge Not
    Jurisprudence
    Just A Few Words
    Just Have Faith
    Justice
    Just In Our Own Time
    Just Like God
    Keep Calm And...
    Keeper
    Keeping House
    Keeping On Keeping On
    KJV
    Knock Yourself Out
    Kumbaya
    Kybo
    Lamentations
    Lawn Nazi
    Lemonade
    Less Is More
    Lessons In Empathy
    Let Me Count The Ways
    Let's Go RIde A BIke
    Licking The Spoon
    Like A Flint
    Linked In
    Little Boxes
    Liturgy
    Lo And Behold
    Logos
    LOL
    Looking Back On The Forward Looking
    Looking For Some Real Good News
    Lord Jesus It’s A FIRE
    Lorem Ipsum Dolor
    Lost And Found
    Lost In Translation
    Luck Of The Stable
    Made To Dance
    Madonna
    Magical
    Make A Baby Laugh
    Make It Nice
    Maker
    Maker’s Mark
    Manifest
    Manwich
    Ma-pitom
    Marbles In Spring
    Measure Of A Man
    Meat Power
    Memory Box
    Men In Loincloths
    Men's Barber Shop
    Messiah
    Middle Ground
    Middleman
    Mistakes All In
    Montreal Spice
    More
    Morse Code
    Mosh Pit
    Moving Parts
    Mr. Good Enough
    Mr. Resolve
    My Neighbour
    Mystery Of The Cheshire Cat
    Myth Of Sisyphus
    My Wife The Movie Star
    Name Calling
    Natural
    Needed Time
    Neighbour
    New Day
    New Wine
    Next To Godliness
    Next Year Country
    No Fancy Diagram Needed
    No King But Caesar
    None Deserving
    North Of Ground Level
    Nothing Particularly Important
    Nothing Personal
    Not Waiting For Godot
    No Wonder
    Oak
    Obsessive
    Offended
    Oh Jerusalem
    Old Growth
    Old White Men
    On Adult Admission
    One Coffee At A Time
    One Smart Farmer
    One Thing
    On Richard Rohr
    On The Lam
    On Writing Clearly
    Ordinary Time
    Orwell For Our Times
    Out Of Egypt
    Over And Again
    Paint Over That
    Paper Boy
    Particularity
    Particularity Of Place
    Particulate Matter
    Part Of The Tradition
    Pater Noster
    Patina
    Pea Game
    Pelagian
    Perfect
    Perfect Crime
    Perfect Ride
    Philosemite
    Pilate's Dilemma
    Pinky Swear
    Place At The Table
    Playing Favourites
    Pop-a-corn!
    Potato War
    Preaching Parrot
    Predators
    Prepper
    Prince
    Print Shop
    Prisoner
    Promises Promises
    Proof Text
    Psalm 1
    Psalm 19
    Psalter
    Put Away The Books
    Putting Up The Lights
    Rainbow
    Recognition
    Red Haired Step Child
    Reduce Reuse Recycle
    Resin
    Restoration
    Resurrection
    Retro
    Rosemary And The Drug Dealers
    Sad Face
    Sandwich
    Say My Name
    Scars
    Scrooge's Bedsheets
    Second Naiveté
    Seeing Red
    Seven Sixty-Five
    Shouting From The Areopagus
    Shrove Tuesday
    Silent Witness
    Slippery Slope
    Small-c
    Small Graces
    Sock Monkeys
    Someone To Watch Over Me
    Song For The Lowly
    Sore Afraid
    Special Language Store
    Squat
    Squeeze Gently
    Starting With What Is True
    Status Quo
    Still True
    Street Food
    String Too Short To Be Saved
    Strongman
    Sufficient To The Day
    Superstar
    Take A Punch
    Takedown
    Talking Head
    Talking Your Parents Down From The Ledge
    Telling The Story
    Thanksgiving
    The Bliss Of Ignorance
    The Church Invisible
    The Crossing King
    The Evil Day
    The General
    The Great Mystery
    The Harrowing Of Hell
    The Joys Of Hash
    The Man Who Was Always Right
    The Other Place
    The Place Beyond Knowing
    The Quickening
    The REAL Jesus
    The Reason For The Season
    Therefore Choose Life
    The Rules
    The Secret History
    The Stand That Wouldn't Stand
    The Table-ness Of A Table
    The Way
    This Is My Body
    This Is The PLACE
    Though One Be Raised From The Dead
    Thoughts On Sixty
    Three Jews And A Gentile
    Thrice Wise
    Throwing The Spaghetti Against The Wall
    Timeless
    Time Vs Time
    Time Warp
    Tim Falladay
    Tims No More
    Tin Hat
    Tonto And Me
    Touching Stones
    Trevor’s Super Bad Day
    Trick Key
    Tubafore!
    Unbelievable
    Under A Bush? HELL NO!
    Uninvited
    Unlikely Saint
    Unmedicated
    Unspectacular
    Use Gently
    U-Turn
    Value Added
    Veni Vidi
    Virge 'n Mary
    WASP
    Watching Paint Dry
    Wayside Chapel
    Weaker Sex (?)
    We Stand On Guard For Thee
    We Were Waiting
    What Are You Prepared To DO?
    What Doesn't Kill You
    What Lazarus Knew
    Wheat Gum
    When Cows Fly
    When Odd Becomes Interesting
    Where Art Comes From
    While You Were Sleeping
    Why I Still Like Cowboys
    Witness
    Woke
    Wood Show
    Words
    Words... The Right Tool
    Worthy Adversary
    Worthy Is The Lamb
    You And Me And Rob

    RSS Feed

Contact Us

    Subscribe Today!

Submit
Picture
  • Home
  • Hello and Welcome
  • Blog
  • Worth Repeating
  • My Book
  • FAQ