My campaign against pennies — update

More than two years ago, I wrote a blog here about a campaign I was launching against pennies.

I laid out my arguments against them (both rational and irrational) in a most compelling fashion. Now, in the intervening time I’ve done a little preaching against pennies when the opportunity arises. But, mainly, my campaign consists of a good ole-fashioned one-man grassroots movement.

Namely, I don’t deal with pennies. Period. If ever pennies are owed to me as change from a transaction, I tell the cashier to keep them. And an astonishing thing has happened: sometimes they keep the pennies, and sometimes they round down to the nearest nickel. *gasp*

Now, I estimate that more than half the time they keep the additional pennies. So I’m losing as much as a dollar or two a year. Small price to pay. Especially considering that my return on that investment is that I’m breaking in retail clerks all across the land to the concept of KEEPING THE DAMN PENNIES IN THE DRAWER! My hope is that one day this trend will spread far enough that no one need even keep pennies on hand, because a vanishingly small percentage of the population (aka old people) will still use them.

Join me, people! Join forces against the evil and senseless tyranny of the smallest and useless(est) denomination!