Day #380 - In the Flow

General:

Even Jay Leno, David Letterman, and Oprah Winfrey get days off and can play repeat shows. But they don’t have Penny Angels as their sponsors. Penny Angels don’t get tired or take vacations. So today we had a variety of Finds, Shares, and Experiences.

Our major accomplishment was getting new cell phones. Our phones were over three years old and the screen on mine has been shattered for a while. We got the basic plan and the free phone which came with it. We received an hour of instructions and details and were told how it could take photos, videos, text messages, etc., etc. Then we got home and tried to call each other. Neither one of us could figure out how to answer a simple incoming call! We had to read the owner’s manual to figure it out! Huge learning curve ahead. But that is what life is all about … daily learning and growing.

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Today's Penny Adventure:

Doc insisted upon starting today’s journey with a trip to Starbucks. The drive up line was long, so he parked and walked inside. I walked the parking lot and found a penny near the nutrition store. (Coin #1). Done for today. I hopped in the van and was using the voice recorder to log in that note so I would remember it later tonight.

Doc was stopped at a red light and said, “There’s MY Penny! On the street Median - far side.” He hopped out and back in before I even knew what was happening. (Sure wish he moved that quickly with some of his other tasks)! (Coin #2)

We were headed about 25 miles down the road to Pasadena. (For those of you outside the country, that is where the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Football game are held on New Year’s Day each year).

We stopped at the Walgreen’s for a few items. There was an obvious penny by the first cash register as I walked in and then a second one a few steps further along. (Coins #3&4).

Our coin count was OK for the day, but something was lacking. Of course! I had not Shared the story yet with anyone. No Penny Smiles Generated at that point.

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We were looking for food to take away so we could have lunch with our GrandFISH. (Our son is in South America this week and we are feeding his fish). Doc suggested the typical fast food chain stores, but I like to try the local mom-and-pop places. We found a nice Mediterranean food place and ordered our meal. We were told it would take 10-15 minutes to prepare, so I went Penny Hunting.

There was a 7-11 convenience store nearby. As I walked in, I spotted a penny by the register. An older gentleman was obviously enjoying his conversation with the cashier. I walked through the entire store - twice. Finally I stood behind the gentleman. Another customer got behind me and asked, “Are you in line or not?” I replied, “Sort of. Actually, that guy is standing on my Penny Story for today!” Of course I said it loud enough to answer the guy and for the cashier and other customer to hear. So I did a quick explanation, picked up the penny and passed out three Penny Cards. Three big smiles were generated!!! Yipee! The customer behind me said, “Good for You! I was just wishing that more people would be ‘in the flow’. Thanks for doing that!” At which point I spotted another penny and just blatantly picked it up so we could all smile. Then Edith, the cashier, said “Here’s another one!” and added a third one. Just a wonderful moment of joy between four strangers. I walked out of the store with added Joy. Four people saw those 3 pennies inside the store. When I left the store and looked at the three coins in my hand - one of them had been transformed into a dime! This has happened before. (Coins #5-7)

I returned to the little café to pick up our lunch. The cashier was friendly and so I showed him the coins in my hand, told him the story and gave him a Penny Card. Doc and I walked out of the café and there was a penny by the door of the van! (Coin #8). That has happened so many times - I tell someone and then a coin just seems to manifest as if to corroborate my story. I ran back in to tell the cashier the Joyous news. It took an extra 60 seconds in my day. So what? Another Penny Smile was generated.

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After our lunch with the fish, we spent the next 1.5 hours with Dave, the very nice manager at the Verizon store. Bless him for being so patient with such clueless phone users. We shared the PennyFinders story with him. Another Penny Smile.

We stopped at Trader Joe’s for some groceries. There was a penny at the feet of a lady in the milk aisle. (Coin #9). I could have easily waited until she moved, but that would be missing an opportunity for Shared Joy. So I said, “Excuse me while I pick up today’s Penny” and gave her a Penny Card. Another smile. As we were paying for our groceries there was another penny. (Coin #10). So I gave a Penny Card and collected a Penny Smile.

Today’s Total: 10 coins P (9), N (0), D (1), Q (1) = $0.19

Thought: THANK GOODNESS Sharing Joy is so simple versus Hi-Tech.

If people can figure out how to generate text messages and video messages, surely they can figure out how to generate Joy messages!