I was quite astonished the other day when my mother told me that Canada was phasing out the penny. Apparently it now costs more to manufacture pennies than they worth!
"In Economic Action Plan 2012, the Government announced it would phase out the penny from Canada’s coinage system. The decision to phase out the penny was due to its excessive and rising cost of production relative to face value, the increased accumulation of pennies by Canadians in their households, environmental considerations, and the significant handling costs the penny imposes on retailers, financial institutions and the economy in general."
She told me yesterday they are now thinking about getting rid of the nickle.
It got me to thinking and you know what happens then . . . I think it's rather sad actually. I know they will call it progress, but is it really??? A whole generation and generations of children will grow up not knowing what a penny is . . . and what's even worse . . . not being able to save up their pennies.
As a child I was encouraged to save up my pennies in my piggy bank. Those pennies soon added up and I remember buying and doing all sorts with my pennies. Granted it was a far different world back then and a penny did go a lot further, but still . . .
Think about all the phrases which will then become redundant . . . simple sayings that will then have no meaning because generations of people will have no idea at all what is being said . . . things like:
"Penny for your thoughts."
"Allow me to put my two cents worth in."
"A penny saved is a penny earned."
"Spending a penny." (dates back to when it cost a penny to use a public loo.)
Saving pennies through the years has been a really big thing for me. I always save them in a jar and then when I get enough I spend hours rolling them into fifty cent rolls of coinage. It's amazing how very quickly they add up. A penny saved really is a penny earned! And what about those little penny pots at the til for the customers who find themselves short a penny or two when it comes time to pay for their goods? "Good will at the til" . . . will that be out the window too??
As a child pennies were so important to me. Remember penny candy. I know it's long since you could get very much for a penny, but when I was a child a penny meant at least three candies . . . and a lot of pleasure.
There's many a young lad who put pennies on the rail tracks to see what happened with the train ran over it and squashed it out flat . . .
And what of squashed penny machines??? You know the ones I mean. You put in a penny and a quarter (probably more now) and your penny comes out all squashed into an oval and imprinted with a souvenir image on one side of exactly where you are. My sister and I both had squashed penny pendants of the Lord's prayer when we were girls. We were allowed to only wear them once or twice a year along with our silver crosses . . . I also have a little enameled robe of Jesus . . .
I suppose I might be seen as an old fogie, but pennies hold a lot of meaning for me. We had a dog named Penny when I was a girl, that I dearly loved . . . called so because of the colour of her ears. Pennies are symbols of thrift and hard work . . . dreams . . . they hold in that little copper shape the virtue of saving for a rainy day. It's easy to save pennies . . . and they soon add up.
Who hasn't picked up a "lucky" found penny and made a wish for their future??? And what of wishing fountains???
"Find a penny and pick it up and all the day you'll have good luck."
It just seems very sad to me. I know we are rapidly moving towards a cashless society . . . but there is something of intrinsic value in being able to hold real money in your hands . . . it's much harder to spend when it is real . . . and not invisible.
And that's just my two cents worth for today!
This is a little something I painted between yesterday morning and afternoon (with lunch out in between). The hardest part was getting the water right. I wanted it to look like ripples and so that you could see her feet and hand beneath the water in a way that looked realistic. I was quite pleased with how it turned out. I love that scripture as well . . . I do so love the word of God.
Yesterdays Silver Lining . . . a wonderful cozy lunch spent out with two very dear friends. Time spent in the company of people you care about and who are like minded is always special time indeed.
A thought to carry with you through today . . .
"Without hard work . . . nothing grows but weeds."
~Gordon B Hinckley
Something simple baking in The English Kitchen today . . . Brown Scones. Simply delicious!
Have a wonderful day everyone! Hope that the sun shines down on you!
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