Green Walking, Turning Trash to Treasure, Part II

The MoneyWalkers French Quarter style patio. Many of the fence boards were recycled as were all the patio bricks.


Journal Entries

Oct. 19: Weight = 173. Lbs; Coinage = $1.33, 18 pennies, 3 nickels, 5 dimes, 2; 7 glass bottles; 5 ground scores

Oct. 18; Weight = 174.6 lbs. (12 day excursion to NYC and DC with unchecked consumption); Coinage = $9.08, $5 dollar bill, 1 dollar bill, 88 pennies, 12 nickels, 11 dimes, 2 quarters; 11 glass bottles; 2 ground scores; one super find (2 quarters in a telephone return).

Oct. 7: Weight =172.8 lbs.; Coinage =$1.42, 42 pennies, 4 nickels, 3 dimes, 2 quarters; Glass bottles = 11; Ground scores = 2.

Oct. 6: Weight = 172.4 lbs.; Coinage = $2.08, 48 pennies, 7 nickels, 10 dimes, 1 quarter; ten glass bottle, two ground scores.

Oct. 5, 2010: Weight = 173. lbs; Coinage = $1.48, 37 pennies, 7 nickels, 5 dimes, 1 quarter; 6 glass bottles; ground score = 2.

Feature Entry: Green Walking, Turning Trash to Treasure, Part II

More and more, the MoneyWalker’s blog is reflecting the consciousness of the go-green movement. I walk to complete most shopping experiences if the destination is one mile or less. In our neighborhood that includes the bank, grocery store, dozens of restaurants, the post office, and the drug store. The practice avoids gasoline emissions, saves gasoline consumption, and contributes to the MoneyWalker’s weight loss maintenance strategy.

It is no secret that the MoneyWalker is motivated to maintain his walking practice by the chance of finding money. Pennies add up and finding nickels, dimes, and quarters scattered around the curbs and hotspots of Mid City New Orleans tickles the ventral striatum. But there is a new joy—finding and restoring other people’s trash. Turning “trash to treasure” is a hot topic in the going green movement. I call it the 3R method of sustainability--recycling, reusing, and repurposing.

Boring is the word to define all the types of items that have been found and recycled by the MoneyWalker. To test your stamina suffer through these: jewelry, books, office supplies and equipment, vacuum cleaners, weight lifting equipment, antique gum ball machine, floor lamps, book shelves, desk and credenza, and area carpets. Others include collectibles, TV table, coffee table, extension cords, jumper cables, oil paintings, art work, cleaning supplies, barbecue cookers, and clothes. Even more items include towels, baby strollers, tricycles, bicycles, tools, paint, lumber, bulletin boards, chandeliers, purses, beds, and gas cans.

Perhaps the most significant find occurred after Katrina. Many people with old houses with coal-burning fireplaces restored their homes and tore out the fireplaces to achieve a more modern look. The MoneyWalker retrieved the bricks, cleaned them, and created a “French Quarter” patio. More than 3,000 bricks were used in the project, bricks saved from the land fill.

One problem with the 3R method is distribution. How does the MoneyWalker deal with all that junk? First, he has a large storage area. Second, he is very handy and can repair most things. Third, he conducts a charity yard sale once a year to recycle the finds. He has also purchased “EBay for Dummies” and plans to sells his really good finds on EBay. All proceeds including coinage go to a local charity.

Walking while looking for money and other ground scores is a great one-two punch for weight loss and weight management and for going green. The more you walk, the more lbs. you lose and the more treasures you find to recycle, reuse, or repurpose the more you help sustain planet earth. Both contribute to personal meaning, an outstanding antidote to depression and stress.

MoneyWalker

A Charitable Dilemma

Painting, 'Charity or The Indigent Family', 1865, provided by Fotosearch.

Journal Entry, 7-22-10: Weight = 171.2 lbs; Coinage = $2.17; Glass bottles = 10; Ground scores = 7 including a recyclable baby stroller.

Feature Entry: A Charitable Dilemma

Early on, the MoneyWalker felt a moral dilemma about what to do with the money that he found during his fitness walks. It seemed unsettling to find pleasure in another person’s loss. The feeling is silly but it was real and I resolved it by giving the found money to a local charity one that ministers to battered women and their children. Then as rescuing discarded objects became a part of the walking program, it was logical to sell them on E-bay or host a garage sale. The latter was opted for.

Daily walking presents numerous opportunities for good Samaritan behavior. Two examples include helping a person with need of a tire change, and finding then returning a lost cell phone. The recipients of the assistance always offer to help. Today was such a day. A cell phone was found, the battery was fresh, a number was called, and an owner located. He retrieved the phone with obvious appreciation and offered to assist me for my inconvenience (and for not making several long distance calls). I said, “You can pay it forward, or if you are inclined, I will accept a small donation to be given to my charity (the battered women).” He rolled off a $20 and a $5 and handed them. I said, "Just the five is ample.” But he insisted and we settled on the $20.

Now I feel like he was taken advantage of. It is a charitable dilemma!

MoneyWalker

Hogarthian Walking

Journal Entry: June 2, 2010: Weight = 170.2 lbs.; Coinage = $2.93, 114 pennies (one wheat), 3 nickels, 5 dimes, 1 quarter, 1 dollar bill ( a paper find is always special); Glass bottles retrieved = 7; Ground Scores = 4.

Journal Entry: June 3, 2010: Weight = 172.6 lbs; Coinage = $1.39, 49 pennies, 4 nickels, 2 dimes, 2 quarters; Glass bottles = 6; Ground scores = 10; Best coinage find = a totally blackened quarter, a “step over” quarter, also a 5 peso coin.

Feature Entry: Hogarthian Walking

This morning during my walk Malick cried out Bob, Bob! He wanted to say hello. I had talked with him and two street companions on the day before. The three homeless men had talked about seeing me frequently walking the area and were curious about what I seemed to be doing. They could tell by my dress and determined look that I was not a typical walker in the neighborhood. I had met one of them before and he knew that I was a money walker.

The episode reminded me of William Hogarth(his "Beer Street" painting is featured above). About 250 years ago Hogarth, a noted painter and artist, walked the seedy streets of London and painted what he saw—usually impoverished men and women living in debauchery. New Orleans has always been a city with thin layers of wealthy and wretched communities existing side by side. Thus, as one walks in our city, one moves from opulence to Hogarthian-type low rent districts in a matter of minutes. In the Canadian Forum, a Hogarthian walk is interestingly described as follows: “You don't stand back and observe the city from a safe distance as you would with, say, Canaletto. You are swept along the alleyways, jostled from each side, forced to dodge the contents of an emptied piss-pot or to step over an inebriated harlot.”

There are places in New Orleans like that. The MoneyWalker avoids the ones known to be high crime areas. But an urban savanna is a full context of dwellings and situations, not just an oasis for the well educated. Not walking into the full range of neighborhoods is to completely miss the Hogarthian philosophy of walking. “One of William Hogarth’s consummate skills as an artist was his ability to make you feel part of his world.” New Orleans neighborhoods can be a seedy world? Many are places of indeterminacy, disorder, and confusion where lives are being played out in a way understood in no better way than by walking and reflecting on the sights, sounds, and smells of the neighborhoods.

The MoneyWalker is cautious and selective of the streets that are selected for walking, but if there is no reason to suspect that an area is inclined to support criminal behavior, he will allow his “psychogeographic” curiosity to direct his path; and, he thinks, better for it.

MoneyWalker

Civility and Walking

Journal Entry: 12/17 Weight = 175.6; Curb coinage = $1.08, Canister coinage = $2.23; Glass bottles = 2; Ground Scores = 2. Note: a lined man’s extra large jacket was found on a recent walk, washed, smoothed, and placed on the garment pole. It lasted less than 30 minutes.

Journal Entry 12/18: Weight = 175.2, $1.31, all curb coins; Ground score = 1; Glass bottles = 4; Best coinage find = a quarter from one newspaper stand and a nickel from another by its side.

Feature Entry: Civility and Walking

Encounters with others while walking is a given when the walks are in busy urban confines. Things can go wrong so I try to walk with civility. I have had an unread copy of Stephen L. Carter’s book, Civility, Manners, Morals, and the Etiquette of Democracy in my library for many years, but an episode from this morning’s walk motivated the MoneyWalker to actually read a few pages. Among the gems was this comment: “Civility has two parts: generosity, even when it is costly, and trust, even when there is risk.”

The episode involved a cigarette lighter and what was to be my first ground score of the day. I was zooming through the parking lot of a Starbucks parking lot checking for change. At the same time of the lighter sighting, I spotted a stranger walking along the sidewalk just below. With civility I said “Good morning!” as I reached for the lighter. He announced with a non-hostile also civil voice, “I was just about to pick that up.” He was not of my race, but my response was an easy one, “Please, you take it!” I gave it a high toss for an easy catch and we both went on our way. Then he yelled back, “And it works too.” That is connecting, that is civility.

There are threats to civility; Dogs that bite—Territory infringement— Indifference to others-- The turning automobile-- An attitude of preferring isolation--Racial profiling. I remember when one snarly beast charged and I yelled at her apparent owner, “Keep your dog on a leash!” She yelled back, “It’s not my dog mister!” Another time at 6 a.m. I was cutting through a huge restaurant parking lot and the owner ordered me to stay off of his property.

It is not always easy being civil, but it is the right thing to do. What? Yes dear, I can be better at remembering to pickup my clothes.

MoneyWalker

Finality and Death and Dying

Journal entry: Weight = 173.3; Coinage = $.71, 36 pennies, 1 dime, 1 quarter; Glass bottles retrieved = 2; Ground scores = 2; Best coinage find = a 2 coin curb scatter consisting of a quarter and a penny.

Feature entry: Some believe that “all philosophy springs from the phenomenon of death.” On my morning walk, I came upon an automobile wreck. It was raining and had been all night. A light weight SUV coming off the interstate onto one of my walking streets had flipped onto its top. It was surreal--no police, no on-lookers, or no ambulance was present. I feared the worse—I feared finality!

Elisabeth Kȕbler-Ross’s “On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy, and Their Own Families” opines that all of us should make it a habit to think occasionally about death and dying before we encounter it in our own life. Indeed, the foundation of most faiths is that the finality of death is a myth, that we either live on spiritual in an another state (in heaven), or that we are resurrected for this world to live in another time and place.

Still, we humans are hard-wired to seek mortality, or at least to live as long and as well as we can. That is one of the primary motivating factors driving the MoneyWalker’s continuing habit of a constitutional walk. Death comes in many forms, sometimes expectedly during a terminal illness or sometimes unexpectedly from an accident.

The three leading causes of death in the United States are heart disease, cancer, and stroke. Other leading causes include chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, pneumonia and influenza, diabetes, and suicide. Research is clear, an active exercise program coupled with a balanced low-fat low caloric diet can forestall death and extend the quality of life.

As for the accident, it remains a mystery. Upon arrival to the scene, there were no passengers or driver in the car or in the nearby asphalt and green spaces. Soon a nurse stopped, then another samaritan, and finally we heard a firetruck coming. Assuming the authorities were in control and not seeing anyone injured or worse, there was nothing to do but to walk away and deal with my reflections of …finality.

MoneyWalker

Brad Pitt for Mayor!

Journal Entry, September 7, 2009: Coinage = $1.11, 31 pennies, 4 nickels, 6 dimes; Glass bottles = 9; Ground scores =6; Best coinage find = a well tanned dime from a heavily walked curb.

Journal Entry, September 8, 2009: Coinage = $3.03, 98 pennies, 4 nickels, 11 dimes, 3 quarters (yes these finds reflect an early morning raid of the vacuum cannisters of the local car wash); Glass bottles = 4; Ground scores = 2; Best coinage find = a nickel and 3 pennies in the curb in front of a coffee shop featuring the likeness of Brad Pitt (see photo above), also a dime was found in the Times Picayune vending machine at the building.

Feature Entry: Brad Pitt for Mayor!, he has my vote. Brad and Angelina Pitt are among the many national personalities that have given their time, money, and energy for the rebuilding of New Orleans. Among their worthy contributions is the rebuilding of the Upper Ninth Ward, the so-call “Musicians Village.” With their leadership, many of the City's musical treasures, the musicians, were able to return to New Orleans and rekindle the French Quarter music scene. This multi-sponsored Habitat for Humanity project has attracted many volunteers including the MoneyWalkers.

Just down our street is Warren Easton High School. This public and chartered high school is the recipient of thousands of dollars contributed by Sandra Bullock. The Moneywalker’s famous car wash is just five blocks away.

Perhaps more important to the recovery of New Orleans are the thousands of college students, high school students, church groups, and general population that continue to flock to the city and volunteer their vacation time for the recovery effort. One Idaho high school group totally “gutted” one of my properties two years ago.

Brad, you are a symbol of the great good will that we have experience from all parts of the U.S. and abroad. Thank you!

MoneyWalker

Creating a Living Trust Fund

Journal Entry, Sept. 3, 2009: Weight = 172.8; Coinage = $1.60; 135 pennies, 1 nickel, 2 dimes; Glass bottles = 4; Ground scores = 9; Best coinage find = 135 pennies in three stacks on a bridge guard (I have no idea)

Journal Entry, Sept. 4, 2009: Weight = 173.2; Coinage = $1.75, 60 pennies, six nickels, six dimes; Glass bottles = 8; Ground score = 1; Best coinage = the six dimes, six nickels, and 49 pennies found at the car wash.

Feature Entry: Ms MoneyWalker is putting forward convincing evidence for changing our will to something called a “living trust.” We have read that the heirs of our modest estate will save much time and expense in not having to go through probate. However, I’m banking on my walking regiment to forestall the need for such a document for many years.

One problem is the upfront time required to dutifully and accurately record each and every item for the Living Trust. The question is, just which ones of my children will be the proud owners of all my Ground Scores such as the ones featured above.

MoneyWalker

Black Pennies

Journal Entry: Weight = 172.4; Coinage = $.84, 29 pennies, 3 dimes, 1 quarter; Glass bottles = 4; Ground Scores = 2; Best coinage find = several black pennies near various curbs.

Today was an experimental walking day. Several new or infrequently traveled streets were exercised. Not much coinage but several pennies had turned black by a lengthy exposure to the elements. It felt good to put them back in circulation. A recycled shirt has been placed on the electric pole near our street sidewalk with this simple explanation, “Washed, please take!” I wonder how long it will last?

MoneyWalker

Altruism and Found Money

Journal Entry: Weight = 174.0; Coinage = $.89; 14 pennies, 1 nic, 2 dimes, 2 quarters; Glass bottles retrieved = 4; Ground Scores = 3; Best coinage find = two walkover coins that had been missed on repeated walks over the last several months, a dime on the ground near a paper vendor and a quarter semi buried in dirt along a curb. Good job foveal receptors! Best Ground Score = a pair of wonderful red size large woman's capris. These will be washed and recycled.

Feature Entry: Yesterday, the MoneyWalker presented $208.00 to the Baptist Friendship House of New Orleans. All but $90 was the result of finding coins and paper currency during MoneyWalking excursions over the last six months. The $90 was from the sale of china plate ware retrieved from the MoneyWalkers’ rental property flooded by Katrina. The plateware owners had abandoned the house which had received 7 feet of flood water. The plate ware somehow survived. After washing and sanitizing the china, it was sold through a consignment store. Our split was $90.

There are many worthy ways to dispense of found money and other “passive” streams of revenue. Vacation funds, gifts to family members, general family needs such as groceries, a rainy day fund, and a college fund are excellent ways to invest found and passive revenue streams. Yet, the Moneywalker has selected to give found money to a charity that ministers to battered women and their children.

The remainder of this blog entry will list reasons why philanthropy was selected as the outlet for the money. First is civic virtue—good citizens have a responsibility to help others in need.

Second is a need for individuals to contribute to a civil society that seeks to meet pressing social issues rather than to continually count on state and federal agencies.

Third, the MoneyWalker understands that giving to help others is a rich source of personal happiness. Finding a ten dollar bill brings an immediate source of satisfaction, but true happiness is found by giving to others. Thus, giving provides an “enlightened self-interest” which helps me experience an individual personal need.

And fourth, giving to others without expected reciprocity is a high form of altruism, a selfless concern for the welfare of others.

MoneyWalker

Weeds

Journal Entry: Weight = 175; Coinage = $1.29, 19 pennies, 2 nickels, 5 dimes, 2 quarters (2 bagger); Glass Bottles = 14; Ground Scores = 9; Best Coinage find = a nickel found under a pay telephone pay. To find the coin, I pulled several tall weeds from a common area that the city fails to maintain. Out popped the nickel with one of the weeds.

Feature Entry: The MoneyWalker is working with a PhD student on her dissertation that deals with "existential vacuums." I am certain that existentialism will have several entries in the weeks to come. Existentialists set their own norms but are willing to live with the consequences. So if the MoneyWalker wants to bizarrely spend his time walking and looking for stray coins, and occasionally stopping to pull weeds, then people will just have to stare. And so what if he is carrying four empty beer bottles with a recently retrieved clothing article wrapped around his waist, what is the big deal?

MoneyWalker

Happy Memorial Day from the MoneyWalker

Journal Entry: Weight = +175.2; Coinage $1.01, 46 pennies, 2 nickels, 2 dimes, 1 quarter; Glass bottles picked up and disposed = 8; Ground Scores = 5. Best coin find, a two coin scatter (1 quarter and 1 penny) found along a curb of an "occasional" street detour taken on a hunch. A block further, the curb gave up a dime.

Bob's Herrenzimmer is operation central for the MoneyWalker's blog, coin shop, office, and library. It is a place that I read, reflect, write, and study. Today, I am reminded of Memorial Day and a person that I met on this morning's walk. A slight altercation ended happily. I spotted what looked like a recyclable jacket and ventured to close to his "home." He was homeless, but he had squatted in a crevice of trees and a pushed over wooden fence. The spot was vacant, but as I neared it the gentleman was walking up from a different direction. His warning was just a grunt, but it communicated clearly to stay away. Later I returned and apologized for my intrusion explaining that I had spotted a jacket that might be recycled. He said, "No problem, would I like the jacket?" I politely refused, but upon reflection realized the spirit of Memorial Day, to live in a country that allows easy habitation of people on the full continuum of life's blessings. But in the mean time I am reminded that it must be time to get a new pair of Brooks walking shoes.

Happy Memorial Day, thank you veterans for your sacrifice--for all of us.

MoneyWalker

Soooy Pig, Avoiding the Swine Flu

Journal Entry: Weight = 176.6; Coinage =$.99, 24 pennies (one wheat), 2 nickels, 4 dimes, & 1 quarter; 11 glass bottles retrieved and dumped; ground scores = 5. Significant find, a dime at Walgreens. This once hot money spot had been pitching shut outs for a long time.

Feature Entry: How do we money walkers plan to survive swine flu and still honor our commitment for maintaining fitness and finding coins? Robert Schwartz, MD, and chairman of family medicine at the University of Miami
School of Medicine admits that it is very difficult to protect oneself from catching a virus, especially in waiting rooms, airports, and supermarkets.

We seek and find coins in these places, but most of our work is done outdoors. Are coins and other “ground scores” safe to handle? Yes and no. Swine flu, like all influenzas is spread by the release of microscopic airborne droplets. If the droplets are transported to coins, and the coins touch our hands, and our hands touch our mouths, we are at risk. However, if the droplet dries and is moisture free, the risk is essentially zero. A dry virus is a dead virus.

So what should we do? Dr. Schwartz recommends that money walkers stock up on hand sanitizers, either gels or hand wipes. Then when we handle “scores” we should immediately clean our hands. When possible during our searches, we should wash our hands as often as possible. All the fast food chains have liberal policies concerning their wash rooms. Just walk right in and wash up. And while there look around the dining room, there is nearly always loose change on the floor of these places. This morning, I found a dime on the floor inside the Bean Gallery while Ms. MoneyWalker and I enjoyed "muffin Friday" together.

Also, we should become socially conscious and not cough or sneeze in public. And then we should avoid contact with others who may be sick.

As they use to say on Hill Street Blues, “Be careful out there!”

MoneyWalker

Faux Recyling

Journal Entry: Weight =177.8 lbs.; Money Found = $1.80, 30 pennies, 5 nickels, 5 dimes, 3 quarters; Glass Bottles Retrieved = 19. One penny was a wheat. Hardware = 25 ft 3/8 nylon rope.

Feature Entry: After Katrina, New Orleans discontinued its city sponsored recycling program. As a "citizenship" project, the MoneyWalker retrieves glass bottles and throws them in trash cans along the curbs. If New Orleans had an active recycling program, a better behavior would be to recycle.

I chose glass because of issues involving breakage and the danger of broken glass. I also "maintain" the telephone stations and tops of newspaper vending stands. When checking these, all paper, glass and plastic are removed and deposited. I don't have the time to pick up plastic bottles and other debris along the general walk paths.

Picking up glass bottles and carelessly left garbage is worthy citizenship and helps me feel good about myself. I don't feel guilty about finding money, but appreciate the balance of "giving something back."

Breaking stride by picking up glass bottles is a bother, but sometimes the effort provides an extrinsic reward--a found coin. The featured photo above reveals a dime in juxtaposition with a Budweiser bottle. I found the dime under a pile of leaves as I reached the bottle. Several times, money has been found in the reach retrieval process.

Caution, as they say, "experience is the best teacher, but the tuition can be very high." Avoid having to learn the hard way to carefully empty each bottle before the transport to the trash receptacle. You will not believe what might be in an "empty" beer bottle, sometimes something worse than stale beer.

MoneyWalker

Friendship and the Friendship House

The MoneyWalker met a new friend on this morning’s walk. The neighborhood’s 8-bay car wash is a money hotspot and I visit it often. This morning one of the money-yielding vacuum stations was occupied—dang! Weary of violating his personal space, I ventured as close as discretion might allow. Too close, he said, “Good morning, talking your walk?” “My name is Greg,” he said. Forget fast paced walking, I was engaged. I admitted that I was a MoneyWalker and what that meant. “What do you do with the money?” he wanted to know.

I answered that the MoneyWalker’s money is donated to the Baptist Friendship House of New Orleans. Just outside of the historic French Quarter, the Friendship House provides a host of services including a transitional housing program for women and children. Programs include: GED preparation, literacy classes, computer classes, English as a Second Language, job readiness classes, and spiritual guidance. They also have a program for girls which features help with academics, field trips, arts/crafts, and dozens more. The girls learn how to become a self-sufficient woman by receiving instruction in Violence Prevention, career development, self-esteem, responsible sexuality, community service, and accountability.

Yesterday the MoneyWalker made a donation to the Friendship House. “Shock and awe” were registered on the face of unsuspecting Assistant Director Karina America as she received 78 rolls of pennies ($39.00), five rolls of nickels ($10.00), five rolls of dimes ($25.00) three rolls of quarters ($30.00), 14 one dollar bills ($14.00), and two fives ($10.00) for a total of $128.00 dollars. The container of coins weighted more than 50 lbs. I wish that I could see the expression of the business manager when this "donation" is delivered.

First was fitness walking, then finding money, after that blog management, and now a charity cause, where is this bizarre hobby going next? Stay tuned!

MoneyWalker

President Obama and a Coin Tender

Beginning August 1, 2008 and ending Feb. 28, 2009, the MoneyWalker has found $112.51. The exact amount is known because the loose coins have been processed through a new MMF Coin Tender. This inexpensive contraption (Office Depot under $15.00) stores, counts, and wraps pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Before the coin tender, the coins were piled inelegantly in plastic drink containers throughout the house. Mrs. MoneyWalker was not happy. Doing the math, $112.51 represents 2,431 pennies, 200 nickels, 225 dimes, 138 quarters, 12 one dollar bills, and two five dollar bills, all picked up over a seven month period by one person. That is 2,991 coins rescued from an unlikely future, possibly out of circulation forever. President Obama, as you follow the MoneyWalker’s blog, know that these coins are now neatly wrapped and ready to be put back in circulation for the good of the ‘ol USA. Also, all that walking, bending, reaching, and mentally searching is helping with another of your projects, cutting down on the Medicare costs by keeping the MoneyWalker hip and healthy. We MoneyWalkers are good citizens.

MoneyWalker’s finds for the first three days of March, $1.61, 96¢, and $1.34 respectively. The coin tender is already filling up. You will want to get one of these handy gadgets for your loot.

I wonder if President Obama is a MoneyWalker?

MoneyWalker

The Green Gods Are Pleased!

The MoneyWalker walks for fitness, but he also walks to please the green gods. Each day is filled with a need to run errands. The choice is to drive or to walk. More and more I am choosing to walk. Here are typical distances measured in blocks--drug store, 12 blks; post office, 10 blks; grocery store, 4 blks, bank, 3 blks; newspaper stand, 2blks; hardware/lumber store, 5 blks; neighborhood restaurants, two to ten blks. All are doable walks. Today was a good example. One of us needed cold medicine, off I went walking the 24 blks (down and back). Environmentalists call this going green. By walking, not driving, I reduced the pollutions and greenhouse gas emissions. According to the American Public Transportation, gas burning vehicles contribute 30% to carbon dioxide emissions. To learn more of the ABCs of “going green,” take a look at this website: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/4990/

But for the MoneyWalker, it was all about making the green gods happy. There it was, in the curb in front of RiteAid, a one dollar bill. I also found four pennies during the trek. The green gods got what they wanted and I got what I wanted.
MoneyWalker

Citizenship

A MoneyWalker is a good citizen. My walks are brisk and focused. I want to maintain my target heart rate while being ever vigilant for those elusive coins that temporarily reside in curbs, parking lots, and return slots. So, during yesterday’s week-end walk, in the middle of a sometimes busy intersection, two stylish women in a new SUV, called out for my attention. “Can you help us; we are looking for so and so breakfast cafe?” “First, can we please move to the curb out of the intersection?” “Do you know the name or the address?” “No, we think it starts with an F.” “Could you be talking about The Ruby Slipper, it was recently featured as a trendy breakfast café?” “Yes, that was it, The Ruby Slipper.” I gave directions and off they went, while I strived to recapture my MoneyWalker mojo. Yet, I took some degree of pleasure knowing that I had helped these two damsels complete their quest for a pleasurable outing. It is what a good citizen does.

As a MoneyWalker I experience frequent opportunities to demonstrate good citizenship. Recently I found a cell phone, hopelessly lost in a remote parking lot. Still charged, I went to their directory, located Pawpaw’s number, and gave it a ring. Bingo, it was his daughter-in-law’s business phone, and she had spent hours looking for it. Another time, it was a lost driver’s license. Our state requires a residential address, so 44¢ later, off it went (no return address on my envelope provided.) Still another time, a lost jacket contained a worker’s visa from one or our Katrina heroes from Honduras. No address, but it did contain a business card of a Honduran business man. Another 44¢ with a brief note of explanation and my phone if someone wants to call for the jacket.

Then there is eye contact and speaking to your neighbor as your paths cross on the streets. It breaks focus, but it is worthy behavior of a good citizen. I sometimes remove dangerous objects from the street such as nails or tree limbs. Citizenship opportunities are infrequent and ad hoc, but very soul stimulating when they occur. It is a residual benefit of the MoneyWalker experience. When you walk, practice good citizenship as it presents itself.

Moneywalker