The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Welcome and General Discussion => Topic started by: hadabeardonce on June 11, 2018, 05:27:21 PM
-
Would you pick up a penny from the floor of a public restroom?
I sat on the toilet looking at this penny wondering, "If I don't pick it up, did that make me less of a mustachian? If I do pick it up does it mean that I'm somehow addicted to money? Do I have no shame or standards? Is the health risk worth a penny? Was I un-American if I left Abe Lincoln face down in a men's room?"
…
I picked up the penny and washed it while I washed my hands.
-
Yes. Take a little toilet paper and pick it up in the toilet paper. Then either wash it with soap when you wash your hands, or just keep it in the toilet paper until you get home and can wash it and disinfect it. Then put it in your coin collecting jar or piggy bank of choice.
-
No. Risk/reward factor. Thirty years of market average compound interest, adjusted up with inflation, still nets you under 13 cents.
Public restroom floors are cesspools of bacteria. I don't know where that thing is been.
I'm not going to take even a 0.1% chance of getting sick over 13 cents in retirement.
Now make it a dollar coin....
-
If it's any relief, bacteria prefer something warm, dark, and moist to reproduce on-a coin has none of these. Should be fine.
-
No. Risk/reward factor. Thirty years of market average compound interest, adjusted up with inflation, still nets you under 13 cents.
Public restroom floors are cesspools of bacteria. I don't know where that thing is been.
I'm not going to take even a 0.1% chance of getting sick over 13 cents in retirement.
Now make it a dollar coin....
Now, what it was a pre-'82 penny, eh? Copper alone in that is worth more than the penny itself. Instead of ol' Abe facing down....what if it was that Indian fella?
I guess these questions would be the equivalent of "What if this is the next Apple/Tesla/Facebook stock heheh.
-
Probably no dirtier than any other coin. There's usually more bacteria you should be worried about on people's hands than on any floor.
That said, picking up a penny must yield about minimum wage these days. I won't pick a penny up off the sidewalk if I'm in a hurry, because it's not really worth the time.
-
Well, any time you pick up a coin off the ground, you don't know where it's been. Actually, any time anybody hands you change in a business transaction--stores, restaurants, whatever--heaven only knows what bacteria are on those coins. I wash my hands a lot and try to keep them away from my face.
-
I saw a penny in a puddle of piddle once. I passed.
-
I don't pick up pennies anywhere. I might pick up nickels and greater if it doesn't look like anyone will notice, but not off a bathroom floor in a puddle of piddle.
-
I was taught that if you find a penny, it is a sign of good luck and I am superstitious. That 1943 penny worth $40,000 is waiting for me.
http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1913870_1913868_1913831,00.html (http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1913870_1913868_1913831,00.html)
A penny found is as good as a penny earned.
-
Oh, that's a tough one! If I stop and think about it I think about it, I think I'd come to the same conclusion as you (pick it up and wash it), but I'm not sure what I'd do in the moment.
I don't pick up pennies anywhere. I might pick up nickels and greater if it doesn't look like anyone will notice, but not off a bathroom floor in a puddle of piddle.
BAN HIM!!!
A penny found is as good as a penny earned.
More actually. Unless you're SUPER law abiding and claim found pennies on your tax return as "other income," although even then you wouldn't pay FICA tax which you do on earned income
-
Financial Independence is not needing to pick up anything less than a $10 bill :)
-
Yes I would. Well, if someone pooped on the floor first and placed the penny on top of it then no but otherwise I would just wash it and put it in my pocket.
-
Absolutely! Have done this many times. :)
-
Yes. Take a little toilet paper and pick it up in the toilet paper. Then either wash it with soap when you wash your hands, or just keep it in the toilet paper until you get home and can wash it and disinfect it. Then put it in your coin collecting jar or piggy bank of choice.
this....I was going to wash my hands with soap and water anyway....just add the penny to the mix
-
Pretty sure even new pennies are copper clad zinc. Copper is antimicrobial. Probably just fine to pick up. So...
Yes.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
I’d do it. We’ve all unwittingly handled pennies that have been in gross places before they reached us.
-
I just had to google piddle
-
I wouldn’t pick the most sterile penny up from the most sterile room in the world.
-
Penny, no. Nickel or greater, yes.
-
Sure, why not? How clean do you think the change that the greasy guy behind the counter of the local convenience store hands you is? Betcha it's not significantly worse.
:P
-
I was taught that if you find a penny, it is a sign of good luck and I am superstitious. That 1943 penny worth $40,000 is waiting for me.
http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1913870_1913868_1913831,00.html (http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1913870_1913868_1913831,00.html)
A penny found is as good as a penny earned.
I agree - finding a penny is good luck:)
Decades ago mom sent me to buy a loaf of bread at the baker - I was a penny short - they sent me home without the bread. Lesson learned!
I think of this every time I see a jar for pennies at the checkout or the cashier asks if I really want my one penny in change.
So, unless it looked gross somehow, I'd pick it up in toilet paper and then wash and pocket it.
But, I'd rather find that $100 bill on Miami Beach - floating in the water - yes, I did!
That $100 bill in the trash on the ground of a gas station - yes I did!
That crumpled mess of bills on the walkway on Clearwater beach. $69 - yes, I did!
I rarely find change, but I always pick it up - I always considered finding any change payback for that one penny that caused me such grief - eons ago:)
Based on that logic/irrational belief I have been rewarded handsomely.
-
Absolutely, unless the bathroom is exceedingly gross. A penny off the floor of my local bookshop's bathroom? Hell yeah. A $5 bill off the floor of a BART bathroom? ... enh not so much. Those floors are sticky and you can SEE the lines where puddles have dried.
I don't mind dirt or germs very much. I do mind picking up things that I'm very, very certain have been in recent contact with urine.
-
If the bathroom was really gross- no.
If it was relatively clean that I'd touch the floor, sure.
If people think change is clean when handed to them at the store, they are deluded.
-
There is something to be said about the "aversion to loss" effect that makes folks do an action that averts a loss, or recoups from a loss, while not doing an economically equivalent action. In the coin example, this would mean that the person would pick up the coin that he dropped, while not picking up the same value coin that happens to be on the floor (irrespective of the cleanliness of the floor, LOL). I find myself doing this to some extent.
-
I am surprised (although maybe I shouldn't be, given where this conversation is taking place) that there are so many people who are avid penny-picker-uppers. I am with the small minority of other posters who do not pick up pennies ever. I count them as virtually worthless. Nickels and higher I will keep because I can at least use those for the rare instances where I have to pay for a parking meter.
The penny should be eliminated and all change denominations rounded to the nearest 5 cent value. This is how it is done in many other countries around the world.
-
I am surprised (although maybe I shouldn't be, given where this conversation is taking place) that there are so many people who are avid penny-picker-uppers. I am with the small minority of other posters who do not pick up pennies ever. I count them as virtually worthless. Nickels and higher I will keep because I can at least use those for the rare instances where I have to pay for a parking meter.
The penny should be eliminated and all change denominations rounded to the nearest 5 cent value. This is how it is done in many other countries around the world.
Yup, I just ran the numbers and a penny is less than I earn in one second at work. It's not worth the hassle to deal with them.
We should be like Canada and round to the nearest 5 cents.
-
I am surprised (although maybe I shouldn't be, given where this conversation is taking place) that there are so many people who are avid penny-picker-uppers. I am with the small minority of other posters who do not pick up pennies ever. I count them as virtually worthless. Nickels and higher I will keep because I can at least use those for the rare instances where I have to pay for a parking meter.
The penny should be eliminated and all change denominations rounded to the nearest 5 cent value. This is how it is done in many other countries around the world.
Yup, I just ran the numbers and a penny is less than I earn in one second at work. It's not worth the hassle to deal with them.
We should be like Canada and round to the nearest 5 cents.
I wasn't making any money when I bent down in the bathroom to pick it up. So it is still a plus.
I'd be happy to be rid of pennies though.
-
I keep two Dixie cups in my cabinet at work, one is for pennies and the other is for all non-penny change that I collect in my pockets through purchases (our cafeteria is cash only, and I go there 1-2x a week if we're low on groceries at home or when they have something tastier-looking than my usual ham sandwich).
The non-penny change cup turns over fairly regularly, with the odd vending machine snack or breakfast purchase.
The penny cup is nearly full, and I'm not entirely sure what to do with it when it is. It certainly isn't worth my time to go acquire rollers, roll them, and make the ~$4 deposit at the bank (it doesn't have a change machine).
-
Probably no dirtier than any other coin. There's usually more bacteria you should be worried about on people's hands than on any floor.
That said, picking up a penny must yield about minimum wage these days. I won't pick a penny up off the sidewalk if I'm in a hurry, because it's not really worth the time.
I mean, pee is sterile too, but I wouldn't pull a penny out of a puddle.
-
Hell, I've raised kids. Puddles of pee are all in a day's work.
-
I keep two Dixie cups in my cabinet at work, one is for pennies and the other is for all non-penny change that I collect in my pockets through purchases (our cafeteria is cash only, and I go there 1-2x a week if we're low on groceries at home or when they have something tastier-looking than my usual ham sandwich).
The non-penny change cup turns over fairly regularly, with the odd vending machine snack or breakfast purchase.
The penny cup is nearly full, and I'm not entirely sure what to do with it when it is. It certainly isn't worth my time to go acquire rollers, roll them, and make the ~$4 deposit at the bank (it doesn't have a change machine).
Will your bank give you the rollers for your pennies? You could ask them the next time you're in there. It only takes a couple minutes to roll the pennies--then the next time you are at the bank, turn them in for the $4, and use it for your cafeteria at work. Or, just use up the pennies when you pay at your cafeteria cash register. Give the cashier exact change every time, and I bet those pennies won't last long.
-
I keep two Dixie cups in my cabinet at work, one is for pennies and the other is for all non-penny change that I collect in my pockets through purchases (our cafeteria is cash only, and I go there 1-2x a week if we're low on groceries at home or when they have something tastier-looking than my usual ham sandwich).
The non-penny change cup turns over fairly regularly, with the odd vending machine snack or breakfast purchase.
The penny cup is nearly full, and I'm not entirely sure what to do with it when it is. It certainly isn't worth my time to go acquire rollers, roll them, and make the ~$4 deposit at the bank (it doesn't have a change machine).
Will your bank give you the rollers for your pennies? You could ask them the next time you're in there. It only takes a couple minutes to roll the pennies--then the next time you are at the bank, turn them in for the $4, and use it for your cafeteria at work. Or, just use up the pennies when you pay at your cafeteria cash register. Give the cashier exact change every time, and I bet those pennies won't last long.
Yeah, I mean I could, but this is one of those time vs. money things that I don't care about. The effort to pay in pennies, and make everyone in line behind me want to kill me, is way more trouble than it's worth. Same with rolling pennies. Note that this estimated $4 has accumulated over about 6 months. We're talking $8 a year here.
-
I keep two Dixie cups in my cabinet at work, one is for pennies and the other is for all non-penny change that I collect in my pockets through purchases (our cafeteria is cash only, and I go there 1-2x a week if we're low on groceries at home or when they have something tastier-looking than my usual ham sandwich).
The non-penny change cup turns over fairly regularly, with the odd vending machine snack or breakfast purchase.
The penny cup is nearly full, and I'm not entirely sure what to do with it when it is. It certainly isn't worth my time to go acquire rollers, roll them, and make the ~$4 deposit at the bank (it doesn't have a change machine).
Will your bank give you the rollers for your pennies? You could ask them the next time you're in there. It only takes a couple minutes to roll the pennies--then the next time you are at the bank, turn them in for the $4, and use it for your cafeteria at work. Or, just use up the pennies when you pay at your cafeteria cash register. Give the cashier exact change every time, and I bet those pennies won't last long.
Yeah, I mean I could, but this is one of those time vs. money things that I don't care about. The effort to pay in pennies, and make everyone in line behind me want to kill me, is way more trouble than it's worth. Same with rolling pennies. Note that this estimated $4 has accumulated over about 6 months. We're talking $8 a year here.
Drop it in a Coinstar for Amazon credit the next time you're at a supermarket?
-
I keep two Dixie cups in my cabinet at work, one is for pennies and the other is for all non-penny change that I collect in my pockets through purchases (our cafeteria is cash only, and I go there 1-2x a week if we're low on groceries at home or when they have something tastier-looking than my usual ham sandwich).
The non-penny change cup turns over fairly regularly, with the odd vending machine snack or breakfast purchase.
The penny cup is nearly full, and I'm not entirely sure what to do with it when it is. It certainly isn't worth my time to go acquire rollers, roll them, and make the ~$4 deposit at the bank (it doesn't have a change machine).
Uh, take a couple with you for each trip to the bathroom and try to discern if any of us are your coworkers by tossing them down. Start with one on the sink, then on top of urinal, bottom of sink, floor, back of toilet, floor of toilet, and so on.
Report back
-
Hell, I've raised kids. Puddles of pee are all in a day's work.
Yep. And there's no monetary compensation for it either. :P
-
So a penny is worth 1c US?
People would take something off a bathroom floor that doesn’t belong to them for 1c?
I am amazed at the 27% yes response.
-
I think the old Man Show had a gag where they floated a dollar in a toilet of piss to see how many people fished it out. 100% did. I would not.
On the penny I might pick it up and clean it with my handwashing if I felt some compulsion that it might be meaningful, like I was going to get on a plane or had some other wish-me-luck thing going on. I know that is dumb but it is true.
As long as the bathroom has soap I would do the dollar in pee thing. Poop is another matter, I would need a bit more for that. But I have worked in home care for the elderly and I handled other people's pee and poop every day then. You just get used to it after a couple of days. The spit bucket one of them had though... I gagged every time I handled that and the person who had a collection of snot... I just leave it at that, I can't say anything more. And nails... I hate toe nails I realized from doing this work. Being punched, pinched and yelled at were other "benefits" but you get used to that too. I should say that most of these people were suffering from various conditions that lowered their judgement so they were not really this doing all of this on purpose and mostly I actually liked this job.
-
Given I saw and ignored the $2 coin in the toilet bowl at work, I can safely say this is a firm no.
-
Hell, I've raised kids. Puddles of pee are all in a day's work.
Yep. And there's no monetary compensation for it either. :P
But there's an upside/obligation, which is that it's part of being a parent.
My upside for sticking my hand in a stranger's piss is $.01. Who gives a fuck about $.01?
-
A penny found is as good as a penny earned.
I grew up being told that "a penny saved is a penny earned." However, that saying originates from Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack which was published from 1732 to 1758. I can't find reliable inflation data going back that far, but a penny in 1913 is worth more than a quarter now.
I don't pick up pennies, but I'll pick up a nickel.
-
Maybe, but probably only if no one was around to see! Couldn't be any dirtier than the change a grocery store cashier once gave me after she sneezed in her hand.
-
No. Don't want change. Got rid of it and don't want it back.
-
No. You could make it a hundred dollars and I still might not do it. Neither a penny, nor $100 makes a meaningful difference in my life.
Urine isn't sterile by the way. That's a myth.
-
I would be much more likely to pick up a coin than a dollar bill. That dollar bill is going to be difficult to clean, while the coin is relatively simple.
Not sure I would grab the penny just because it is worth so little and its very existence disturbs me(pennies cost more to make than they are worth, it would be trivial for people to round to the nearest $0.05), but I would still be more likely to pick a penny off the floor than a dollar bill out of a piddle filled toilet, to use the parlance of this thread.
-
I'm in Canada, we don't have pennies anymore. But I still pick up coins I find, and throw them in the jar.
I used to conscientiously add found coins to my weekly stash deposit, but now I don't really bother. The stash is doing fine.
-
I would pick it up with my tongue. I have no shame and I love money.
-
If it's any relief, bacteria prefer something warm, dark, and moist to reproduce on-a coin has none of these. Should be fine.
They also prefer not to grow on antimicrobial surfaces, like copper.
-
Penny no, Nickel I would think about it, Dime yes.
-
I think it would depend on my mood to be honest.
Some days I might pick it up and take it home to add to my jar of coins.
Other days I might think I should leave it there in case someone really needs it.
Other days I might leave it there and wonder about the penny - how it got there, how long it had been there, who might end up picking it up (cleaner perhaps?) and think of it in a weirdly philosophical way. Did the penny have a message for me?
And I'd probably think of all the beautiful old pennies we do have here from my late mother and grandparent's old collection of coins.
-
In an obvious puddle of piss, NO. anywhere else on the floor, yes.
-
I would pick it up with my tongue. I have no shame and I love money.
Best Response Yet!
-
I would pick it up with my tongue. I have no shame and I love money.
What if it was stuck on a floating turd?
-
Pennys, no. Nickels and up, yes. However the last coin I actually picked up was a dollar. I've been carrying it around for three months unused since my bank won't take deposits of loose coins, and if I buy with my credit card instead of cash I can get 1 or 2% back, so I just can't bring myself to pay cash.
Eventually I'll go to a cash only business and be able to justify spending it, but I may have wasted more time putting in my pocket every day and taking it out every night than it was worth.
-
if it's not a quarter i don't bother. quarters i can use at the car wash, but anything less doesn't move the dial for me.
if i did pick up pennies i would have no problem picking it up out of a puddle of pee in a bathroom and taking it directly to the sink for a thorough wash with soap. our culture has gone WAY overboard worrying about germs. guess what, you're covered in germs, including all the bad ones you hear about on the news.
-
No, I would not pick it up. Just like I would not pick one that is encrusted in dirt and slime. Just no.
-
I would probably pick it up if it wasn't super gross, but realistically I never see pennies anymore since we got rid of them in Canada. I will stop my bike to pick up coins in the road (when safe) and I find lots of coins on the ground, sometimes even bills.
-
Nope. I don't care where it is I'm not picking it up. I'm not picking up anything less than a dollar. I leave these coins for the less fortunate or children who are at the mercy of their parents' goodwill for money. There are plenty of homeless folks here who need it way more than I hope I ever do.
-
There is something to be said about the "aversion to loss" effect that makes folks do an action that averts a loss, or recoups from a loss, while not doing an economically equivalent action. In the coin example, this would mean that the person would pick up the coin that he dropped, while not picking up the same value coin that happens to be on the floor (irrespective of the cleanliness of the floor, LOL). I find myself doing this to some extent.
Thanks for making me Google "loss aversion": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_aversion
"refers to people's tendency to prefer avoiding losses to acquiring equivalent gains: it is better to not lose $5 than to find $5... Some studies have suggested that losses are twice as powerful, psychologically, as gains."
I would probably pick it up if it wasn't super gross, but realistically I never see pennies anymore since we got rid of them in Canada. I will stop my bike to pick up coins in the road (when safe) and I find lots of coins on the ground, sometimes even bills.
Thanks for sharing that Canadians don't make cents ;)
I leave these coins for the less fortunate or children who are at the mercy of their parents' goodwill for money. There are plenty of homeless folks here who need it way more than I hope I ever do.
I like your answer about leaving it for those in your community who may need it more.
for non-voters:
Yes. 59 (28.1%) Dirty Compulsive Money Addicts
No. 145 (69%) Self-Centered Wealthy Germaphobes
Other. 6 (2.9%) Piss Resistant Floor Lickers
-
Nope. I don't care where it is I'm not picking it up. I'm not picking up anything less than a dollar. I leave these coins for the less fortunate or children who are at the mercy of their parents' goodwill for money. There are plenty of homeless folks here who need it way more than I hope I ever do.
The chances are someone else that doesn't need it will come along. I'll even pick up a quarter as long as it's not in a puddle of piddle, stuck in a piece of shit, lying in some vomit, or something like that. I sure don't need it.
-
I think the "leave it for others" argument doesn't hold water. There is nobody - even the poorest of the poor - who would materially benefit from an extra penny.
I've kept a record of all my found money for the last several years. I'm finding $5-10 per year. The only real reason to pick up a penny is because you've made a game of it, or you want the exercise, or it's fun to talk about with others, etc. But trying to get richer isn't a good reason.
-
I would pick it up with my tongue. I have no shame and I love money.
What if it was stuck on a floating turd?
https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/10/02/what-is-stoicism-and-how-can-it-turn-your-life-to-solid-gold/ (https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/10/02/what-is-stoicism-and-how-can-it-turn-your-life-to-solid-gold/)
-
Nope. I don't care where it is I'm not picking it up. I'm not picking up anything less than a dollar. I leave these coins for the less fortunate or children who are at the mercy of their parents' goodwill for money. There are plenty of homeless folks here who need it way more than I hope I ever do.
The chances are someone else that doesn't need it will come along. I'll even pick up a quarter as long as it's not in a puddle of piddle, stuck in a piece of shit, lying in some vomit, or something like that. I sure don't need it.
While I agree this is likely to happen, it may also still be there when someone who needs it comes along. It's funny how many coins I don't see now that I'm not needy (others will point them out and not pick them up either). But when I had my poor years I deliberately looked down hoping to find a quarter to help me get enough for a package of hotdogs at the 99 cents store. And often I was successful at that. Even found $10 once just rolling through a parking lot many folks were walking past who literally didn't see it. Guess they weren't hungry.
-
I think the "leave it for others" argument doesn't hold water. There is nobody - even the poorest of the poor - who would materially benefit from an extra penny.
I've kept a record of all my found money for the last several years. I'm finding $5-10 per year. The only real reason to pick up a penny is because you've made a game of it, or you want the exercise, or it's fun to talk about with others, etc. But trying to get richer isn't a good reason.
I would agree with you if I had said this only applied to pennies, but I said all coins. This isn't about getting richer, sometimes it's about having sufficient food for the day. See my previous post. The "game" is a lot more serious when the stakes are going hungry vs getting a thrill at finding something of "value".
-
No
But
Find a penny, pick it up, all day long you'll have good luck
-
Nope. I don't care where it is I'm not picking it up. I'm not picking up anything less than a dollar. I leave these coins for the less fortunate or children who are at the mercy of their parents' goodwill for money. There are plenty of homeless folks here who need it way more than I hope I ever do.
The chances are someone else that doesn't need it will come along. I'll even pick up a quarter as long as it's not in a puddle of piddle, stuck in a piece of shit, lying in some vomit, or something like that. I sure don't need it.
While I agree this is likely to happen, it may also still be there when someone who needs it comes along. It's funny how many coins I don't see now that I'm not needy (others will point them out and not pick them up either). But when I had my poor years I deliberately looked down hoping to find a quarter to help me get enough for a package of hotdogs at the 99 cents store. And often I was successful at that. Even found $10 once just rolling through a parking lot many folks were walking past who literally didn't see it. Guess they weren't hungry.
If there's a homeless person right there when I find money, I'll give it to them. I noticed a toonie at the bottom of an escalator, and there was someone begging for change like 10 feet away so I dropped it in his cup. I like finding money, but I don't need it as bad, so I'm happy to pass it on. If no one's around, I'll stick it in my pocket and probably drop it in a tip jar later or something.