There's treasure everywhere

There was Married...with Children random almost spin-off episode where a very young Matt LeBlanc likens something good to "being right up there with finding money on the street" (or something to that effect". Man, truer words where never spoken.

I'm not a creep. The best is finding, say, a quarter....good gain for me, no meaningful loss to the guy that lost it. Probably he cared about it less than a poor starving grad student, anyway. Up until I started grad school, my rule was always "bend down for quarters, but nothing less". I had my dignity, after all. But over the last year I've gotten poor enough that I've gotten over my "pride". I'm down to picking up pennies - but only if noone's looking. If insurance doesn't cover my oral surgery I'll probably be at the point while I ask for people's pardon while I pick up the pennies at their feet.

One day I was walking down North Avenue and a guy was frantically walking up and down the street - he had lost his entire ATM withdraw. He didn't know how much he lost, but if he didn't find it, someone had a payday. If I found that money I'd of course want to give it back, but I know most of the North Ave. pedestrians are likely the type that wouldn't.

I got the idea yesterday (while picking two pennies off the ground outside Publix) to start making a log of where I find money on the street, and how much. Google Maps now lets you add your own points, so I could display the data graphically. Maybe I'd see a pattern of where the most bountiful "hunting grounds" are, and I'd be curious to know what makes an area more lucrative for loose change. Could it be the income level of an area? Or the types of stores around which loose change is dropped? Differing levels of foot traffic? Even time of day could matter.

However, as long as it's only me making records, the points in which I find money are probably going to be most strongly related to my regular walking routes rather than any other factors...still, I think it'd be an interesting little side project. I think I'll start when I get to my new place. Unless the cheaper rent frees up enough cash that I don't need to bend down for that penny anymore.