Many, if not most of my friends won’t bother to pick up change on the street unless it’s at least a quarter. Heck, I’ve seen homeless people who couldn’t be bothered to pick up pennies, nickels and dimes on the ground. I just can’t seem to pass them up, though, for the reasons sighted in the strip. But just as in the strip, the part of my brain that has a very real fear of contracting ebola is constantly at war with the part that fears rubbing the universe the wrong way. Maybe I just need to stop looking at the ground so much.
How ’bout you BOTreaders? What’s your minimum threshold for picking up change?
I don’t have an amount threshold. However I will only pick up Face-Up coins as I subscribe to the “Heads up brings luck” adage. I mean who really wants to invite the bad luck in…..
ooh, i forgot about that old adage, Maria. i’ve always been a “tails” guy, myself. i guess that’s just another thing to consider when finding change. grrr…
and sorry it took a couple hours to approve your message (still shaking things out with the approval system) but that doesn’t take away from the fact that you achieved the Shades of Firsting! wear these well – they act as a metal detector when scouring sidewalks, gutters and lawns for loose change:
😎
Nothing less than a krugerand will convince me to risk the microbiological orgy of things on the ground
wow! your standards are quite high, ebonicplague, especially with your name being what it is. i’d almost think you’d welcome filthy coins! 😉
I’m definitely going to use Bot’s reasoning about this from now on. By the way, you’ve tagged this installment (and several others) with “weho.” Definition?
hey, Soul Man! good to see ya. i’m happy bot’s reasoning’s affecting your decision-making.
and “weho” stands for “WEst HOllywood.” (there’s a “SoHo” and a “NoHo” too, btw.) whenever i use a location in West Hollywood for a background, i try and tag it with “weho.” BOTtrivia: today’s background’s by a burger joint at Santa Monica and Robertson.
Wow. I never imagined that there was a Soho on both coasts.
I’ll pick up pennies on up. Hadn’t really thought of reason, but it is similar to ‘bot’s… I wouldn’t pick up that grungy of a coin, obviously universe is saying that there is someone else out there desperate enough to pick it up.
true that, Vik-Thor. that’s pretty much the reasoning i tell myself if i pass on some change – that someone probably needs it more than i do.
I pick up coins all the time. Found over a dollar once in canadian money which is awesome, cause I collect coins from other places. I won’t touch it if its in gum or anything else, but just a lonely coin laying there its going in my pocket, and getting washed later. I also keep a bottle of hand sanitizer with me, just so no one is grossed out that I’m picking things up off the ground.
you keep sanitizer with you at all times, Descolada? that’s pretty intense, but practical, methinks. when i’m at comic conventions i do the same, and pretty much use the sanitizer every five minutes; there’s always the threat of “Con-Crud” or “Con-Pox” lurking in the air at those things.
Mr. Jeffbot, sir… gotta let you know that when visiting your site with the Opera or Dolphin browsers (and sometimes also happens with Chrome and FireFox, but not as often) the comment area shows in a very dark color that doesn’t allow to read the black text.
In all honestly I have NO desire to have to install either IE or Safari in order to be able to read your page so I thought I should let you know. Thanks in advance.
thanks for the notice, JCB. i’ve gotten similar complaints about the background on a few browsers, so i’ll try and fix that this weekend.
2nd panel: yuck! I never pick up anything from the ground. Not that I’m germaphobic, I just think it’s disgusting. Also, I know a quarter is 25 cents in America, but a dime or a nickel? I don’t think I would be able to use your wierd money…
Our currency is decimal: Dime = $0.10 (1/10 of a dollar), Nickel = $0.05 (1/20 of a dollar)
so nickles aren’t worth s*it? They’re like our 1 and 2 cent coins…
I merely stated where the nickel and dime fall within our currency system. What our currency is actually *worth* is another matter altogether…
thanks for putting out the info, r61!
it is pretty disgusting, DAS! i’ve heard money is filthy enough without then being on the ground. pretty much whenever i handle money (whether from my wallet or from the floor) i wash my hands soon after.
So crap stops at a dime? Good to know. I’ll go unload all my British pennies in a pile of horse poop.
oh, if only stopping crap was so easy, Saeed!
I don’t have a coin threshold, so long as its relatively clean I’ll take. I’m not picky.
same here, 52pickup, with “relatively” being the operative word.
well the universe must care about me alot cause ive walked past whole dollars bills(many many times), and the person walking in the opposite direction would always give me a wierd look and pick it up themselfs hahaha i guess im just ungrateful, but mostly i hate money and dont care about it :P(and i dont say -idc- to often)
i might pass on picking up a dollar bill in that situation, MrSnow, but only because i’d be suspicious of why you’re ignoring the cash and could be punking me!
actually i dont pick up change off the street. im rollin in so much dosh ive got piles of it!
…quarter…
i have piles of it too, steve! just wish those piles weren’t mostly just dimes, nickels and pennies.
Money? Lying around on streets? That happens?
Very briefly, yes. Unless its in something nasty or dangerous. By dangerous, I’m referring to a container of doctor’s needles or quicksand.
don’tcha just hate it when you find money sinking into quicksand, Rainey?
heheh. yep, Maryz. rarely find anything more than a penny or dime, but it’s there if you look for it.
I always pick up change. My logic is that it takes 2 seconds to pick up even a penny, while I have worked for $10 an hour, which works out to 16 cents a minute. Picking up change is more cost effective than work.
ah. good way to look at it, Rigel.
Only the clean ones may go!
agreed. well, clean-ish.
Having spent a summer on a poorly-funded hitch-hiking trip up the left coast, I can honestly say that unless my hands are full, I swoop in on loose chage like a falcon on a small defenseless woodland creature.
Your trip didn’t happen to be this summer Lusus Naturae? Just wondering because I picked up a rather dashing young man doing the same thing a couple of months ago.
I obviously time-travel well. No, my trip was back in 1995. Was fun, though, learned a lot and saw amazing things.
how crazy would that have been if the two of you knew each other.
ooh, i’d hate for us to grab for change at the same time, Lusus Naturae – might be dangerous for me, what with your falcon-like swooping!
Ooh, nice pun in the strip title! And my minimum is anything so long as it isn’t disgusting. It doesn’t even have to have any real cash value. If it’s a coin, and it’s not in anything disgusting, I’ll pick it up.
thanks, NeoD! i was pretty happy with the title for this one as well.
and your criteria for picking up change seems rational.
Let me give you a hint: I once found a $100 bill in some mud by a construction site. (Ironically, it was right next to a bank.) As far as I’m concerned if I can spend it, it goes in my pocket no matter how obnoxious it looks. ‘Nuff said.
wow. $100!!? that’s pretty sweet, r61. if i find anything over 25 cents, i’m pretty ecstatic. not sure what i’d do if i found a $100 bill, no matter what its filth level.
I collect and roll change, so unless it’s in a wad of gum or something equally disgusting, I’ll pick up any change off the ground and stick it in my pocket. I love rolling change; it helps set the universe in order for me.
Or maybe I’m a touch OCD and can’t stand the idea of change being unorganized. Six of one, half dozen of the other…
So I thought about this strip today at work. I was cleaning the cafeteria and getting increasingly annoyed about a *single* lock of hair that kept falling out from behind my ear. While I was mopping the floor, I found a bobby pin. Now, this is in a hospital. All kinds of people with all kinds of nastiness come through every day, and God only knows what that bobby pin might have on it. I thought about that for about two seconds before picking the pin up and pinning back that annoying piece of hair.
Then I had to laugh because I thought about this comic. I guess the universe was getting tired of my mutterings and provided me with the means to deal with my problem.
ha! it makes me very happy to hear you’re carrying the strip around in your head like that, T. now let’s hope that bobby pin didn’t have anything too icky on it. if you’re feeling under the weather over the next few days, we’ll know why. ;D
I was in back booth at work yesterday and found a LOT of change underneath the counter. I assumed it was supposed to be in the changer since we had a new kid back there before me. So, I squatted down to try to dig the coins out from underneath the darn thing… Let me tell ya, that place is GROSS! When was the last time they mopped under there?! I couldn’t help but think of the strip while I was getting my hands grubby. And then had a customer give me a weird look when I stood back up.
awww! love to hear that you thought of JEFbot while finding coins in all that grossness, ky! heheh. you and Tiana spoil me. 🙂
i should totally roll my change, too, T – i just keep it in a big container that gets heavier and heavier with each passing year. i fear i’ll someday cash-in all that change and not have much to show for it. probably best for me to just keep collecting and not worry about the end result.
A friend of mine does that too. Those HUGE water jugs? Yeah. Those aren’t fun to try to get down three flights of stairs when they’re full of change. She actually started sorting them too. She now has one for pennies, quarters, nickels, and dimes….
Where she gets the jugs, no idea.
yep, those things get WAY heavy! when moving, i have to use a heavy duty dolly to transport my container now. someday i fear it’s just going to fall through the floor.
WOW! First time back since you updated the webpage–I like!
As for money….
I’ll pick up pennies, dimes, and quarters. But for some reason, I won’t touch nickels. NO idea why. My husband keeps finding $20’s on the ground at the grocery store when he runs out for something we need that is going to put us in the negative (even if it’s just $2). He actually found a $50 when I was still preggers. That was pretty awesome….
i once found a US $2 bill on the ground in very good condition cosidering it was a 1976 series bill, still have it framed it.suprisingly found it next to a soda machine at a old mom and pop auto shop
@drakeye Actually, you can still get 1976 $2 bills from your bank. I’m a member of WheresGoerge.com (currency tracking site) and I like to get $2s regularly. In a bundle of 50 $2s, there will generally be at least 10 from 1976. I’ve come across a few that looked almost new. I still spent them. $2s are actually being printed this year (2009 series), first time since the 2003A series.
that’s quite some money-info you have in the ol’ noggin’, V-T. sweet!
That IS some pretty awesome info… I’ll have to keep a look out~!
the only time i get $2 bills is when i get them from friends, drakeye. apparently, they’re considered bad luck in some quarters (heh. accidental pun.) but if it’s working for you in that frame, more power to ya! i definitely wouldn’t pass one up regardless of how i got it. 🙂
That’s awesome! I meant to frame mine from when I got my first check for publishing a book… I ended up spending it. And then never selling any books after that! Maybe whoever had left it at the shop had left it because the machine wouldn’t take it? I don’t care. Money is money. (except for nickels.)
There are actually people that have never heard of $2 bills! Seriously. They claim it’s not a real bill, and I have to get a manager over to let them know that it IS… Of course, it’s real fun when the manager you call over is young enough that they didn’t know about it either.
well, HELLO, ky! good to have you back!
and, your husband’s luck with money is pretty freaking rad. see? the universe CAN reward awesome people with cash! funny about your nickel-aversion, tho. 🙂
Thanks! Yeah, we’re special people….. lol
nickles and heads up pennies, superstitious about tails up pennies one of the few superstions i have along with black cats my belief suggests to have a black cat to counter it though kinda oddball thier. money is money, eventualy it adds up say my 17lbs of US Currency.
The only superstition I adhere to is that of not walking under a ladder. I avoid walking under ladders for fear of getting hit by tools dropped by the person standing on the ladder or of knocking down the ladder itself if it’s low enough.
agreed, Rainey: i never walk under ladders either if i can avoid it. and like you, it’s more for the safety of it than the superstition.
The only superstition I hold near and dear is not saying the name of the Scottish play (or quoting it) in a theatre. I know, silly really, but I’ve seen people get really hurt after saying it, and I hate messing with fate much. Besides, my first year in theatre, I asked a respected actor if he believed in the “curse”, and he told me he didn’t, but the fastest way to make enemies in the acting biz was to ignore that particular superstition, at least in the live theatre segment.
THIS. there’s nothing more douchey than some actor shouting the name of the Scottish Play in a theater just to show how cool and unafraid they are, T. i never do it, more to respect the tradition of the theater than anything else.
what’s the scottish play? I’m not that into acting, so I do not know of this curse.
*looks around*
*makes sure there’s no performance spaces anywhere near this posting*
*whispers* Macbeth. The superstition goes that if anyone says its name or quotes it in a theatre, something will go horribly wrong. (Unless the actual show in question is being rehearsed; even fate has to back off a little for that one). If someone actually says its name, the stage manager has to make them run around the outside of the building three times windershins, then knock and request to be let back in. I’ve left someone on the doorstep at -30 for a few minutes because I was so pissed about how rude they were about it. Never ever piss off a stage manager; we’re creative and don’t forget.
interesting fact…
“never ever piss off a stage manager” -> excellent tip!
funny, i’m not superstitious about tails-up pennies or black cats, drakeye, i did own a black cat at one point in my life, though – does that give me credit for black cat curses or do i have to have one currently to ward off the evil? inquiring minds and all that. 🙂
Considering how many people have touched every piece of money you have in your wallet, picking up change on the ground is no less disgusting than withdrawing it from the bank. I pick up any piece of money that won’t make my wallet odoriferous or sticky.
Speaking of $2 bills, due to my great poverty over the last few months, I had to turn in my collection of 26 $2 bills and 18 presidential brass dollars in order to pad my checking account for all the automatic withdrawals made for my bills. It was a sad day for me.
yep, i hear money is SO disgusting, one wouldn’t even want to know the amount of fecal, germ, drug and other matter that clings to an average dollar bill, Bender_Sastre. i try never to touch anywhere near my face after handling money until after i wash my hands.
and sorry to hear you had to sell off your collection. hopefully you got a decent amount for it. 🙁
So, I just noticed that you draw yourself less Asian-looking (the eyes) than you sisters. Is this a representation of reality, or an artistic choice?
hmm… while my sisters do look somewhat more asian than me in real life, it’s more an accidental decision than an artistic one, Bender_Sastre. but at least it’s a happy accident. heheh.
I don’t pick up change, but that’s mostly because of my OCD. I tend to accept things as being in a particular place, and that’s where it exists.
I was once at a train station and a snapple bottle was at a certain spot before everyone got off the train. It then was moved somehow about a foot, and I was for some reason deeply concerned. My friend remembers the incident well, because I spent about five minutes trying to place it, exactly where I found it, and in the position it was in at the time.
So yea.. I can’t pick up coins for similar reasons.
i struggle with that all the time, Satoshieyes – trying to figure out what something’s “purposeful place” is in the universe. whether it should exist unsullied by my interference and such. i’ve decided that change was meant for me to pick up, however, so now that i’ve made that decision, i try and abide by it. 🙂
I pick up money I find on the ground or in pockets of the dirty clothes I deal with at my workplace (Cintas). I also do the same with pens and pencils. Hard telling what I might find in laundry goods. I found a few cigarette lighters, a coin holder, a marble maze, some hats and keychains, knives, bullets, a calendar and even a basketball in the laundry goods.
wow! i find a ton of stuff in my own clothes when i do laundry, Rainey, so i can only imagine the treasure trove of neat things you find in other people’s stuff! a basketball???
As long as it’s 1.00 and above, it’s worth it.
I have a friend who found 3 dollars… in a SWIMMING POOL! Lucky guy…
for some reason, i’ve found money in or around swimming pools on many occasions, ROM! probably cuz it’s hard to keep money in a swimsuit/swim shorts when you’re in a pool. $3 is a pretty good haul – your friend must have good money karma.
I especially pick up dimes! If they are dated earlier than 1965 (1964 or below) they are made of 90% silver and worth more than their weight.
hey, Clayton G! haven’t seen you here in a while. good to see ya!
good tip about the dimes! i’ll keep an eye open for ’em.
ooooh that’s some good info there too….
I laughed so hard at this for one reason only. I’m jewish and I always pick up change I find on the ground. This exact situation happend to me and my friend said, “Do you seriously have to pick up all the money you see?” I just stared at him with a straight face. It was the best moment ever.
glad you got a laugh out of this one, Noramil! and i approve of the “straight face stare” response; it almost always gives me the chuckles when done right. 🙂
I hardly ever see change on the ground. So either people are picking it up or just not dropping it. I’ll pick any coin up other than a penny. My grandpa goes completely out of his way for any of them. Its pretty funny since he can’t crouch down or bend over.
i’m surprised, Nat! i used to find change at school all the time. Starbucks is another good place to find coins. now that everyone pays with credit cards, though, i’ll bet lost/discarded change will become more and more scarce. funny about your grandpa – i hope you help him out after getting a laugh!
“See a penny, pick it up,
and all the day, you’ll have good luck.
See a penny, let it lay –
bad luck will be yours that day!”
I have a lot of pennies.
ha! and that rhyme offers yet another reason to continue picking up coins, Carl-E!
As long as it’s not covered in ick, it’s MINE! I once found a $100 bill (it was back when they first started changing the appearance back in ’98 or so). I thought it was fake, as we had play money in the Prize Center, so by the time I found it was real, I had to turn it in because the manager caught me. I also found $20 once, got to keep that.
jeez, sounds like you’ve got the good money mojo on your side, KB! seems like i need to find more bills – maybe i’m too focused on finding coins.
I always turn over pennies that are facing memorial side up cuz otherwise they’re not lucky and become lucky for the person who finds it next. But I don’t really have a minimum threshold or anything like that. Just has to be relatively debris free.
awww… that’s a really awesome thing to do, dj! i’ve never paid much attention to which side the penny’s facing, but i think i’ll adopt your strategy of only picking up the “lucky” ones from now on and flipping the “unlucky” ones. super cool.
I tend to pick up all change that I see on the ground. The exceptions being ones like the nickle seen in the comic, when I’m behind schedule or when I’m just in a bad mood.
Let us not forget the lost coins!
they shall never be forgotten, GB!
This is why science invented anti bac lotion and gel!
I agree with you, if I notice it I pick it up. I’m from a Latin family. We’re basically superstitious. So I do pick up change, then hose my hands down in hand sanitizer!
hand sanitizer is indispensable in many situations, Pixie – when heading off to a comic-con, i don’t leave home without it!
My wife and I pick up any change that’s not stuck to the ground like that one in your strip. We were curious one year about how much people leave behind, so we set aside a container to hold nothing but found money.
A little over $200 in dropped pennies, dimes, nickels and so forth. In one year.
WOW. $200 in one year, Kinsfire!? that’s pretty awesome. sounds like the luck of the universe is with you and your wife! 😀
I generally pick up most loose change I see. There are times where I wont, but usually I do.
cool. i love finding me some loose change, Fijiman.
I pick up anything more than a penny, and sometimes I even pick up pennies. I think it is the gatherer (as in hunter/gatherer) in me. If there is a resource there, I must glean it. I have this problem with lots of things besides coins. There are these cool seeds that come from Kentucky Coffee Trees outside my work, and I have a hard time passing them by because they are very bead-like to me. Just yesterday, I picked up a buckeye because I like them, and they are there to be picked up and stuck in pockets, darn it!
But yea, I’d totally pass by that gross nickel in the strip. 😉
ooh, neat – can you actually make necklaces or bracelets from those seeds, Shanna? i don’t believe we have many kentucky coffee trees or buckeyes around here, sadly. i love that you must glean resources – i feel the same way. heheh. 🙂
OH! I just remembered about the quarter I COULDN’T pick up a few years back……….. someone had super glued it to the ground. I spent about a minute trying before I realized it was a lost cause.
Someone was being an ass about that…why super glue money to the floor if you’re not being a deliberate jerk?
totally.
ha! see the next strip to see how bot would handle that situation, ky! i hate when people super glue coins to the ground as a prank; i’m sure the gods see that as punishable behavior. >:)
This is why children are good: they pick it up. Saves me from having to do it. And besides, mom spit to get off spots isn’t any better and the kids haven’t died yet.
it’s amazing all the crap i picked up and played with when i was a kid, SewDucky. probably boosted my immune system, though!
Hey welcome back bot, sorry about your website crashing. But I love the re-design.
comments on commetns caught up with:
-Hate spoilers, 20 cents
-love daydreaming, 12 cents
-computer illertate person joke made me lol: 5 cents
-Same shirt content, tacky, 15 cents
-messed up coin in the ground, Priceless
P.s. now im stuck on guild wars 2 for probably the next 5 years where ill have been kidnapped mentally by various NPC’s
anyways welcome back
hey, Heavycannontank! welcome back, yourself! good to see ya and thanks for all the “cents.” hoping the site won’t be down again for a long, long time. 😀
ooh, i hear GW2 is pretty fun. unfortunately, i had to swear off MMOs to get my life back years ago.
besides that nickel is under too much crap
indeed, Jiro. it’s pretty nasty.
Too broke too care! If I can bend over to pick it up, I’ll pick up anything, except in traffin, that’s not a good idea.
i try not to even look for coins on the street, Ruth – too dangerous! i think the universe would agree. 🙂
Hilarious! I always pick up change! IT”S MONEY! Unless of course it’s floating in vomit, dog poop or unknown substances!