Well, I don't want this to sound totally depressing, but my ideas today spout from something that happened at work. And it's more about what time is worth...or what money is worth in relation to time... It's hard to explain.
As I was filling some orders, I found myself trying to figure out when to wear my gloves and when to take them off and when to wash my hands...let's just say I was a little frazzled. Especially since it was just me and the manager today and she was letting me sorta take things my way so she could see how I'd react to the stress while she was gone. It slows down and I take off my gloves (almost like a relieved removal really), and these two older women come to the counter. One lady says "How much is a bottle of water?" Sandy says "It's $1.79 after tax." and the woman looked a little surprised (I was, too, really. That's a little much, but whatever). Then Sandy clarified. "If you want fountain drink water in a cup, we can give that to you for free." And the woman looked horrified. She said "I didn't want to pay so much for water, but I don't want it for free either!!" So we gave them each some water assuring them it's totally fine, ice water in a cup is free and we didn't mind. The woman took her's and her friend's drinks and threw two dollar bills on the counter. "One for you, and one for her," she said to me. Sandy, my boss, says, "You don't have to do that! It's free water!" and the lady said "You deserve it. And we'll be back for refills."
Now, compare that to earlier in my shift. A woman sends her two children up, the older of the two not even 15 yet by the looks and sounds of him and the younger was probably 4 or 5. They order a footlong and a kid's meal, but he wants them on seperate orders. Confused (because they are OBVIOUSLY together), I fill the orders as instructed. The mother of these two walks over, starts shouting that I made her younger son's sandwich wrong, and freaks out at her older son for filling them seperately. After her shouting and carrying on was over, she explained that she wanted them together so she could use a coupon that would save her somewhere in the vicinity of $4. She then came to the front of the line again and asked for the same thing- a footlong and a kid's meal. She had another coupon. She then sat down with her children and starts scolding the older one for not doing it properly. Over a $4 coupon.
Story #3, this one a little closer to my heart. I have started a Facebook group and a blog for my new idea, Sixty-Five Pennies. (For more information go to http://www.65pennies.blogspot.com/ or find us on Facebook). It's basically asking for less than a dollar from 15,000 people over the next few months to help me to get to college. You would be surprised how many people won't donate this small amount. Just 65 cents! Besides my close friends, the youngest person to donate is over twenty. And the top two donors are over 35 (one of which was actually grandmother, but she still counts!!).
This has made me think a lot lately about what money is worth throughout our lives. Now, we obviously don't throw it away whenever possible, not even when we grow older. But when we age, we start to realize there are more important things. Education, a good cause, your family, a smile, or an extra little bit for someone who may need it...these are all worth it. But when we are younger, we hold on to our money and spend it on little items for ourselves. Not that there is anything wrong with selfish purchases- I have made several in my life- but there are so many things out there that are worth it more.
The value of various factors in our lives seem to fluctuate as we grow older...With age comes wisdom, it's true. Every second you live, your mind and your heart starts to slowly change, slowly become something more selfless, slowly understanding VALUE more than WORTH. Isn't that interesting?
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