Day 31

Day 31: Manhattan, NY

$0.14

Wyckoff Ave. and Starr St.: $0.01

620 Loft & Garden: $0.01

Penn Station LIRR: $0.02

Eastbound Port Washington LIRR: $0.10

Day 30

Day 30: Bronx, NY & Manhattan, NY & Brooklyn, NY

$0.38 found

Hunts Point 6 Station: $0.01

524 Bryant Ave., Bronx: $0.01

Union Station: $0.10

Wythe Ave. and N. 12th St.: $0.25

Bedford Ave. and N. 8th St.: $0.01

Day 29

Day 29: Manhattan, NY

$0.02 found

42nd St. A Station: $0.02

Day 28

Day 28: Brooklyn, NY

$0.35 found

Key Foods Wyckoff: $0.10

In the dryer in my apartment building: $0.25

Day 27

Day 27: Brooklyn, NY & Manhattan, NY

$1.67 found

Jefferson St. and St. Nichols Ave.: $0.01

14th St. A Platform: $1.31 (4x quarters, 1 penny, 2 dimes and 2 nickels.  They were extremely dirty and slushy)

A Train uptown: $0.01

8th Ave. and 36th St.: $0.01

341 West 38th: $0.01

8th Ave. Shake Shack: $0.12

42nd St. Downtown ACE Platform: $0.10

8th Ave. L Platform: $0.10

What a day this has been!  This smashes my previous record for the most found at a single time, not to mention for any given day!  I have spent a long time pondering both the massive find, and the people who stood around it not picking it up and I have come to the conclusion that there were two stages to this change ending up on the ground for me to find.  The first stage was The Dropping, in which there are two scenarios.  Keep in mind that the subways are still extremely dirty, wet and slushy.  Either the person who dropped the money was rushing onto a train when he or she dropped it and didn't want to risk missing the train to get it.  This scenario is understandable I suppose.  It would be worth it to me to forgo the dropped change if it meant not being late to an important meeting, or some such similar necessary appointment.  The second, and equally plausible, scenario, although one in which I do not agree with the dropper, is that the change, upon contact with the floor, had become too dirty to pick up.  This case, in my opinion, is less likely because of the quantity of money dropped.  I believe that most people would pick up at least the larger denominations, leaving the lowly penny behind, especially in the case of the quarters.  Quarters are almost essential to our everyday lives.  They feed our laundry machines, and the parking meter, and represent a tangible and meaningful sum of money, especially when compared to the penny which requires ninety nine of its kind to make up a single dollar.  No it is not often that a quarter is purposefully left behind, nor are the other "silver denominations."

The second stage of the change's journey to my pocket was that of The Bystander's Dilemma.  There was quite the group of people all standing near to the change on the floor and the change was all lying on the yellow safety line on the platform, so it was not as if it was hidden to the casual onlooker.  In fact, it was because of this extra contrast in color that I was able to spot the change out of the corner of my eye as I walked quickly passed, forcing me to make a quick one eighty in order to get to the money.  Thus, three scenarios present themselves: the first is that they all didn't see the change lying in front of them for the taking; the second is that the change was too dirty lying in the slush of the subway; and the third is that, once on the ground, the change had become untouchable because of perceived public perception.  The first two scenarios make sense without any further explanation, as inexcusable as the second still is, but let us dive a little bit deeper into this third scenario.

I am certain that almost every one of us sees some amount of discarded change on the ground.  Why would anybody just walk passed the money on the ground?  Of course, this is the question that sparked the creation of this blog.  Through the course of the first days of finding change on the ground, I've been put into some fairly awkward situations in order to retrieve the fallen money.  Sometimes I have had to step in and around people who are in line to make purchases.  Other times, I have had to stop in the middle of rush hour on the steps down to the train platform so I could pick up a penny.  The amount of judgement I felt from the people all around me was nearly suffocating at times, until I became accustomed to not caring about what the people around me might be thinking.  It later dawned on me that this might be a big reason most people wouldn't pick up change on the street.  We are all so occupied with what the people around us think that we become paralyzed.  Others may have seen the money on the floor right in front of them, but would never dare to pick it up.  Perhaps they think it makes them look like penny-pinchers, or maybe they're worried about being seen getting their hands dirty.  Whatever the case may be, what effectively stops a bystander from retrieving free money is that they themselves imagine the others standing around will judge them for it.  We stop ourselves from doing what we all want to do because someone else, who we may never meet, might think less of us.  Doesn't that seem a little bit crazy?

Day 26

Day 26: Hunter, NY and Brooklyn, NY

$0.43 found

Hunter Mountain Ski Resort: $0.40

Jefferson L Platform: $0.01

Bedford Ave. and N. 8th St.: $0.01

Bedford Ave. L Platform: $0.01

Day 25

Day 25: Manhattan, NY

$0.20 found

Starbucks at 14th St. and 8th Ave.: $0.02

9th Ave between 14th St. and 15th St.: $0.10

8th Ave. L platform: $0.08

The subways have been really dirty ever since the latest snowfall.  Since then, I've also seen an uptick in the amount of change left on the ground.  Perhaps there's also a correlation between people not wanting to get their hands dirty by picking up the change they've dropped and the amount of change left on the ground.

Day 24

Day 24: Manhattan, NY

$0.11 found

8th Ave. L Station: $0.01

Blue Bottle Coffee: $0.10

I don't know what it is about Blue Bottle Coffee on 15th Street, but for some reason, people just don't like to pick up the money that they drop on the floor there.  Dimes and quarters too!  And it's not as if they're lost.  They just don't care.  Perhaps it's the air of pretentiousness that wafts around the coffee shop that clouds the judgments of their patrons and creates an atmosphere in which it isn't cool or trendy to pick your money off the ground.  Three days in a row!  Maybe tomorrow I'll find out that the coffee filters are made of hundred dollar bills.  That would explain why the prices of the lattes are so expensive.

Day 23

Day 23: Manhattan, NY

$0.10 found

Blue Bottle Coffee: $0.10

Day 22

Day 22: Manhattan, NY

$0.31 found

Chelsea Market: $0.06

Blue Bottle Coffee: $0.25

Day 21

Day 21: Manhattan, NY

$0.02 found

8th Ave. L Station: $0.01

Westbound L: $0.01

Day 20

Day 20: Manhattan, NY

$0.03 found

1st Ave. L Station: $0.01

1st Ave. and 14th St.: $0.01

1st Ave. L Station: $0.01

My year to date total?  $2.00 (+.01 Panamanian Balboa)!!

Day 19

Day 19: Brooklyn, NY

$0.10 found

Key Foods Wyckoff: $0.10

Day 18

Day 18:  Brooklyn, NY

$0.10 found

The Crown Inn: $0.10

Day 17

Day 17:  Manhattan, NY

$0.58 found

34th St. between 9th and 10th Ave.: $0.01

34th St. between 7th and 8th Ave.: $0.01

34th St. Herald Square Station: $0.25

Delancey and Allen: $0.01

Delancey and Ludlow: $0.01

Ludlow and Stanton: $0.02

Houston between Orchard and Ludlow: $0.03

Katz's Deli: $0.10

Mott and Grand: $0.11

Canal between Bowery and Elizabeth (behind locked gate): $0.01

Union Square L Platform: $0.01

Bedford and North 6th St.: $0.01

Day 16

Day 16: Manhattan, NY

$0.04 found

8th Ave L Station Upper Level: $0.01

42nd St. and 9th Ave.: $0.01

The Acorn Theater: $0.01

14th St. Downtown A Platform: $0.01

Day 15

Day 15: Manhattan, NY

$0.10 found

42nd St. A Station: $0.01

Near Port Authority Souvenir Stand: $0.02

Port Authority near free magazine rack: $0.01

42nd St. and 9th Ave.: $0.02

Port Authority near Metrocard terminals: $0.03

14th Ave. A station near newsstand: $0.01

Day 14

Day 14:  Manhattan, NY

$0.05 found

Eastbound Jefferson St. L platform: $0.05

Day 13

Day 13:  Manhattan, NY & Manhasset, NY
$0.33 found.

King Kullen, Manhasset, Bottle return: $0.20 (4x nickels in machine)

Penn Station LIRR near vendors: $0.02

Port Authority near Metrocard terminals: $0.10 (a dime)

8th Avenue between 40th and 41st: $0.01

Am I getting luckier, or better at finding money on the ground?

Day 12

Day 12:  Manhattan, NY

$0.04 found.

Port Authority near Metrocard terminals: $0.01

8th Avenue and 42nd St.: $0.01

42nd St. Downtown A platform: $0.02

Day 11

Day 11:  Manhattan, NY

$0.29 found

Port Authority near Metrocard Terminals: $0.01
Port Authority near free Magazine Racks: $0.02

Port Authority Soda Vending Machine: $0.25

Westbound L train: $0.01

There's a distinct difference in the find of this quarter today, my first find of this denomination.  Whereas finding pennies on the ground, or any coins on the ground for that matter, is mostly because pennies are beneath the notice of most people, a quarter being left behind in a vending machine is more likely because the soda-purchaser had to run to catch a bus, or connection, or somehow forgot that they were owed a quarter back.  Still, such neglect or forgetfulness still falls within the realm of this blog.  Money is still money, no matter the reason it's left behind.

Day 10

Day 10:  Manhattan, NY

No money found.

Day 9

Day 9:  Manhattan, NY

$0.03 found

Port Authority near Metrocard Terminals: $0.01 (Saw a guy drop a dime near this penny.  He reached down and grabbed the dime, but not the penny.)

 Two Boots Pizza: $0.01 (This one was sitting on one of the tables.)

Port Authority near Metrocard Terminals: $0.01 (End of the night)

Day 8

Day 8:  Manhattan, NY

$0.06 found

B/.0.01 found (1 centésimo [1/100 of a Panamanian Balboa])

Westbound L: $0.01

42nd st. Starbucks btwn 8th and 9th: $0.02

Port Authority near Metrocard Terminals: $0.02 and B/.0.01
Stairwell in my apartment building: $0.01

Day 7

As my first week on this quest comes to a close, I've noticed that I've definitely been looking down at my feet more often.  Of course, this has been for a purpose, but it's a very different way of looking at the world.  You take more notice of the footwear on the people around you, and spend less time interacting with them, making eye contact, or saying hello.  It also occurred to me that if I somehow average finding $0.10 per day, at the end of the year I'll have found $36.50, which is below my initial estimate, and based on the past week, still a high one.  I've also begun to notice that certain areas are better for finding loose money and that I'm not often frequenting those places.  Perhaps I need to spend more time in train stations, or in food quarts.  Places where money is exchanged with more frequency.  And while I'm sure that some of the money found on the floor in those places is there because of inattention, or mistake, I'm still equally sure that some of that money is there because of contempt and laziness.  And so, as I begin another week, I'll keep my eyes cast downward, ever searching for that elusive dream that the streets in America are paved with gold.

Day 7:  Manhattan, NY

$0.10 found

8th Ave. L Station: $0.10

Day 6

Day 6:  Stamford, CT & Bushwick, NY
$0.02 Found

Stamford Town Center: $0.01

Key Foods Wyckoff: $0.01

Day 5

Day 5: Hartford, CT

$0.01 found

Mark Twain House:  $0.01

Day 4

Day 4: Manhasset, NY

No money found.

Day 3

Day 3: Manhasset, NY

No money found.

Day 2

 

Day 2:  New York City.

$0.12 Found

NY Penn Station:  $0.12

Day 1

I've spent a lot of time walking around different cities and a lot of time talking to and listening to people.  The one thing that is hit me over and over is how little we value our small money.  In the US it isn't all that uncommon to hear how people think their change is worthless.  'A penny?!  I don't want a penny.  You keep it.'  I see change all around on the streets, or in stores.  It's made me wonder just why these coins are worthless to people and why they would just throw away their money.  It's still MONEY, isn't it?

So this blog is my record.  For 365 days, I'll pick up whatever money I see on the ground or left on its own once I leave the apartment each day.  And each day I'll take a picture and post it here.  At the end of the year, we'll see just how much money has been left on the streets, in my path.  At the end of the year, I'll also tell you which cities left the most money on the ground, effectively telling you all which city is the modern day El Dorado.

Does anybody have a guess as to how much I'll find?  My initial instinct said something in the range of $100, but after thinking some more, I've lowered it to $50.  Even so, that would be $50 that I've had to do nothing to earn, except bend down and pick it up.  The streets are paved with money, and this is the Search For El Dorado.



Day 1:  Washington D.C.
No money found.