I Was The 'Victim' Of An Experiment Today

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Entry #650635, added on 05-19-09 @ 4:49 pm EDT
Entry Access Restriction: None.

I Was The 'Victim' Of An Experiment Today

Entry #650635

I pulled into the parking lot at Walgreens and parked my car. As I got out, I could see that there was some change on the ground on the sidewalk in front of my car.

I looked around to see if there was anyone walking on the sidewalk who might have dropped some change. Not seeing anyone, I reached down and put the 12 pennies in my pocket. Then I went inside.

As I made my way to my car after picking up a few things, I looked down and was surprised to see some more change on the sidewalk at almost the same place where the pennies had been.

Was this some kind of trick? Was there a "Candid Camera" crew nearby? Not that I could see. I reached down and picked up the change. This time there was one quarter, two dimes and three nickels. That's 60 cents! My trip to the store had netted 72 cents.

Again, I looked around to see if there might be someone missing some change. As I did, a young man of about 14 stepped out from behind a truck and said, "May I have my change back?"

"So this is yours?"

"Yes, may I have it back?"

"Of course. Were the pennies yours as well?"

"Yes, ma'am."

I reached into my pocket and brought out the 72 cents to give to the young man. He took it then tried to give me a $5 bill.

"What is this?" I inquired.

"It was a school experiment, ma'am. Please keep the $5. I was supposed to give a $5 bill to anyone who picked up the change. I have a pocket full of change and of $5 bills. I have been here for 3 hours and you're the first one who reached down to pick up the change."

The young man insisted that I keep the $5 bill, so I did.

As I walked away, though, I thought that I would love to be a part of that young man's school class when they discuss all of the people who walked by and did not pick up the lost change.

I know that when my son and I lived in Texas, the tweens and teens always dumped their pennies on the ground as they came out of stores. It's what they did. Obviously, they would not have been caught dead picking up pennies. But because they regularly threw them out outside stores and fast food joints, the poor and homeless could usually be seen there after the stores and restaurants closed. They were not too proud to pick up change.

Some people may still think that pennies are not worth stooping to pick up. But I have always picked up loose change that I find. I don't believe my son ever participated in the ritual of throwing away pennies. He knew that I kept them in a jar and often times when we had were struggling until the next pay check those pennies put a few gallons of gas in our car or a loaf of bread in our breadbox.

Today, we're told that the economy is so bad that everyone is struggling. Still, the young man said that 22 people - of varying ages and of varying appearances of wealth (based soley on the types of cars they drove, since he was not cognizant of clothing brands or styles) did not pick up the change.

I wonder how many people didn't even look down and see the money. And if they did, I wonder what they thought of there being change on the ground. And, I wonder why no one else bothered to pick it up.

Would you have picked up the change?