October 15, 2008

MA funny thing happened to me on the street the other day, odd funny, not ha ha funny.

I was out getting some exercise and I see this woman standing on the curb next to her bike. She is wearing bike gloves, the kind without fingers, and a bike helmet. The woman is looking hard into the middle of the street, a street busy with traffic.

What she was seeing in the street was money in the form of dimes, nickels, and pennies, lots of dimes, nickels and pennies. The drivers of cars and trucks either didn’t see the money or didn’t care about it because none of them stopped. They rolled right over all the change, which was scattered in about a 20 yard section of the street.

The biker stood there, I stood there, both of us looking at the money. I waited for a break in traffic, got out there and started picking it up one coin at a time. Not being born yesterday, I concentrated first on getting all the dimes, then the nickels. I didn’t bother with the pennies.

Once I started stuffing my pockets, the woman started. It took several minutes for us to get all the change because we had to do it between breaks in traffic. Twice the woman said to me, “Watch out. Here comes a truck,” which I thought was nice of her.

All I said to her was, “I wish I had a broom.”

I picked up almost ten dollars in change, which is quite a bit when it’s all in dimes and nickels. I’m not sure how much the biker lady picked up. When I left, she was picking up pennies.

Neither one of us have any idea how the money came to be there.

I won’t tell you what street this happened on. If you can tell me, I’ll give you back what I picked up.

Before I left with my loot, the biker lady said, “I’ve found money before, but never so much at one time.”

I, too, have found money while out exercising, but never as much as on this day. My pockets were filled with nickels and dimes.

But I will never reach the total of Carl Eilenberg. (Sharp readers will note how I have found a clever way to tell my best Carl Eilenberg story, a story so good I hope it is true, a story I’ve heard from enough people that I believe it to be true.) Carl, the former mayor of Rome and someone who has run and walked for decades, took great delight in finding change on the street during his runs and walks. He would always report, and with great excitement, the exact amount of his found money to members of his running club, the Roman Runners.

Unlike yours truly, Carl donated all his found money to charity.

The Roman Runners, knowing of the delight Carl got in finding money, and knowing he donated it to charity and knowing his route, made a practice of going out before him and dropping change along the way.

Last I heard, Carl had moved to Florida. He and his wife operate a Tiki bar in the Jensen Beach area. I don’t know if he still finds money while out exercising.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Joe Kelly is the editor and publisher of The Boonville Herald & Adirondack Tourist and THE GRIFF.