My Two Cents Worth

I could offer you “a penny for your thoughts” or offer to give you “my two cents worth.” Maybe in today’s world marketplace this attached value seems cliché. Most thoughts are shared freely and instantly whether we like it or not. There are just too many thoughts out there with too many people to drive them home, causing their value to reach an all time low with a tag that now reads, “Take this for what it is worth.”

While coining a phrase may have lost its value over the decades, the penny remains a part of our ability, not only to make change, but perhaps to make a statement.

We put up with pennies…pennies in our coat pockets only to be found on a trip to the cleaners….pennies under the cushions of our couches to be dealt with when we decide to vacuum (good luck on that one). Cash registers everywhere have a plastic cup leaving a penny or taking a penny. We think of them as a pesky annoyance never quite knowing what to do with them.

Then along came an earthquake in Haiti. Good people found new ways to send their help. You could watch your favorite actor or singer on a TV telethon and call with the chance of talking to one of them as you used your credit card to send help. . Those addicted to spontaneity, could use their cell phone to text a certain message that would charge an extra $10 to their cell bill to be used for Haiti relief. (Not to devalue the generosity of those who found any means of charity. It is a world that needs a receipt for its kindness - new income tax laws require it).

However, sometimes out of the mayhem of good intentions there arises a unique and special act of kindness.

The Belmonte Middle School students were bringing in pennies for Haiti relief. I gave my granddaughter the 12 pennies I had in a cup near the washing machine. My co-workers responded too and I went home that night with a generous bag of pennies for the Belmonte effort on behalf of Haiti.

The next day at work, there was one co-worker who knew the value of a penny. He was always picking up pennies on the warehouse floor. This particular day, he came into the lunchroom and was very excited to give me the two pennies he had found that day. “These are to help Haiti,” he said. The value he attached to those two pennies and what he hoped they would do for Haiti touched my heart and has given me so much to think about. Since then, there is hardly a day goes by that I don’t find at least one penny on my desk from him. Some days are better than others and he will let me know it was a good day for Haiti

When I Google the population of the United States and multiply it times two cents, I get $6,200,597. My co-worker’s daily routine – his respect for the pennies he finds – if copied by all of us in our daily lives could make our response to the next human disaster we face a testament to the phrase – here is my two cents worth! Just my opinion of course. Donate the two cents to your favorite charity.

Gparis2@comcast.net
 

                                                                                     

Everyone Looks Better in Sunglasses!


Now that there is daylight on either side of my workday, I have found my sunglasses always in my pocket and ready to give my eyes a buffer from all that sunshine. I have come to realize though that sunglasses are multi-purpose. Have you noticed? Everyone does look better in sunglasses!

Last week, as I pulled up to a gas station near where I work in Beverly, I rolled down my window and said, “fill it up with super. I mean regular.” The “super” part fell out of my mouth like a subconscious reaction to the “eye candy” in silver sunglasses standing at my window and asking me some question that I think had to do with putting gas in my car. I watched in my rear view mirror as he acted out his part like Matthew McConaughey. He came back to my window and said $22.00. I gave him $30 and as I frantically tried to think if it would be incredibly tacky to give him an $8 tip, he took off his glasses to count the change. I am still not sure exactly what happened. It wasn’t as if he had a bag over his head and suddenly took it off. My Matthew McConaughey became Woody Allen. (Well, that may be a slight exaggeration, but it set me to thinking.)

Since then I have noticed that sunglasses really do give you an aura that transcends so much about the rest of your physical appearance. As I thought more about this, I realized there were a few other things that camouflaged a person’s basic appearance.

Besides the sunglasses there is definitely “The Tan.” I know you are not supposed to overdue the sun and use sun block as a precaution to getting too much sun, but I always felt like a nice even tan made you look a little slimmer. I guess it is a matter of blending in with the surroundings. In winter, chalk white blends in with the snow. In summer a nice tan matches up with the peat moss. In any event, a nice bronze tan, maybe with a pair of sunglasses, can create a momentary “WOW Factor.”

Then, too, I have noticed that everyone looks good when there is music accompanying their actions. If you have ever rented a movie and turned the volume down you will know what I mean. Music definitely creates an atmosphere and makes the person all the more attractive when there is a sassy sax playing in the background or violins following their movements. This doesn’t do much for our appearance if we aren’t in a movie, but if we all stay hooked up to our Ipods, maybe we would all look a little more attractive to each other.

I could go on and on about French accents and convertibles, but I am bringing way too much into this thought process. I think it is safe to say that “all that glitters is not gold” and every guy in sunglasses is not Matthew McConaughey. But…for a few moments, he could be!

Summer is fun!