Gimmie the Pennies

Picture this.  I’m 5 years old and it’s Mother’s Day.  We are all getting ready to go out to eat and I’m ready before everyone else.  I’m bored and asked Mom if I could go outside.  She told me that was fine as long as I didn’t get dirty.  Apparently, I took that message to heart, because I was found just sitting at the side of the road in my little lawnchair.  Lisa called mom and said “You have got to check this out!”  In my defense, I was just doing what I was told.

That was the mindset I continued to follow throughout my childhood.  Around the same time, I was being taught the importance of looking both ways before I crossed the street.  I was offered money if I would perform this safety act.  Keep in mind – I was offered quarters, nickels, and dimes, but I only wanted pennies.  (We’ll come back to that in a bit)

I was such a rule follower, that I would look left, look right, then look left and look right, and finally, for good measure, I’d look left and then right one last time.  Now – I was ok to cross the street.  I would happily receive my pennies each time.  

As for the pennies…  When Uncle Ken and Grandpa Art would come over, they would offer me the change out of their pockets.  There would be quarters, nickels, and dimes, but I would pick out only the pennies.  I was obsessed with only getting the pennies.  

In my room, I had a gumball machine that would only accept pennies.  I could’ve opened the bottom and taken any amount of gumballs out of the machine.  It wasn’t locked or even challenging to open, but I wanted the satisfaction of putting the penny in the machine, sliding the little white lever over, and receiving my treat.  Without my beloved pennies – I couldn’t get that thrill.

I also followed the rules when I got to school.  I didn’t talk out of turn during class.  I didn’t even want to interrupt the playground teacher when she was talking to another grown-up, even though I had to go to the bathroom very badly.  She continued talking and talking and talking and I just knew it would be rude to interrupt, so I continued to wait.  I finally waited so long that when it was time to go back inside, I was unable to walk and you guessed it…  I peed on the playground.    

Unfortunately – my rule-following did not last my entire life.  Somewhere around high school, when I got my first car, my rule-following went out the window and things haven’t been the same since!

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