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'Why do teenagers throw pennies in the bin?' blog discussion

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This is the discussion to link on the back of Martin's blog. Please read the blog first, as this discussion follows it.
Please click 'post reply' to discuss below.
Read Martin's "Why do teenagers throw pennies in the bin?" Blog.
Please click 'post reply' to discuss below.
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I used to work as a delivery driver for a bakers and after the school bus had gone it was a race between me and the street sweeper to see who could get to the bus stop first to pick up all the dropped coins. It was not unusual to collect a couple of pounds in change each day.
At secondary I used to help myself to the pennies out of the vending machine that people didn't want. I was ribbed for it but hey more money in my pocket!
I only noticed this when I saw the Company Sergeant Major's wife picking them up
Pete
Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after their selves.
My son saves all his copper-and mine too and he has now got £30 saved up just from those alone
Everything will be ok in the end, and if it isn't ok then it isn't the end
As a teacher though it isn't just my job - parents need to play their part - we have loads of children who never see money anymore, they just see cash/credit cards handed over or note appearing from cash machines. Mine have gone 'shopping' from an early age for their 10p mix despite it taking a huge amount of time to choose the perfect selection!
And then, they often don't have experience of having to EARN the pennies.
Natural adaptation follows...
The rest of it is status/power/class... show off of course :-)
I don't pick up pennies on the street, unless it's 5p min!
Edit: ironically, i just collected 10p on the way from jog to home..
no, we can't withdraw the 1p coin - it makes a beautiful sound when you flip from your thumbnail into the air!
Btw, did you know that any £1 combination of penny coins you use, it will always add up to 356 grams? clever design
As for withdrawing the pennies, it's not worth the excercise.
Empirically it makes sense, but it's not like £ is running a mad inflati0000n rate, and you need to look at span of a decade(s) for it to make sense.