Pennies from Purgatory (a Black Friday Primer)

     Black Friday.

     For some it is the epic struggle to wallow in the Purgatory of a holiday that is becoming more pagan than its pagan roots.

     For me, it is a shrug.  I was working another event, one of the side gigs I do to keep my meager skills up.  Governor's Square Mall was busy at 6 AM and it was still dark.  Occasionally I would look up at the glass and metal ceiling to see the flock of sparrows darting back and forth.  Normally I would feel sorry for them; however, as they swooped down into the food court, I realized that those fat little jokers were better fed than me.

      I scooted past certain stores because I expected to see my oldest sashay out of one (I salute my fellow 50 year-olds who can go near Spencer's, Hot Topic, Forever 21 and any other number of Youth Meccas without feeling like a dinosaur.  I can't!).   But outside of Abercrombie & Fitch (on the Upper Level), I saw a familiar sight:  The prototypical American Husband, perhaps 60 years old.  He was leaning on the rail, as if the techno music throbbing inside had blown him out the door.

     "Wouldn't you rather be inside, Sir?" I said.

      "Oh no!" he said "I couldn't hear myself think."

      We both shared a laugh; apparently he too had a wife and daughters helping to prop up the American Economy.  But speaking of economics, I noticed something on the floor.  A penny!

     Please note that I do not retrieve every Lincoln I see on the ground.  I live in Florida, and the image of senior citizens bending over to pick up pennies is a stereotype that isn't too from the truth.  Want to kill a retiree?  Throw a handful of pennies in the street!

     The man seemed to be interested in my find.  "Was it heads up?" he asked.

     "Tails!"

      "Bah!"  he said with a smile.  He waved goodbye and joined his family as they walked away.

      Heads or tails?  I put the coin in my pocket.  Later the penny would be reunited in a jar filled with many other "cousins".   I am not superstitious, but there has to be a lesson in this.  Every coin on the wrong side can be flipped.  If your circumstances are not what they need to be, then take the first step in changing them.  There is always one more answer, one more solution, one more possibility.   When searching for sustenance, the birds understand that there are always blessings to be collected.   They know this to be true.  Why don't we?
 
     Pennies from Heaven were meant to be picked up.  Even when they are facing the wrong way.

     Always B Positive