Penny for your thoughts

I remember a long time ago there were rumors about taking the penny out of circulation in the US. I have always thought that would be weird. I mean, think about it--there would be no 99 cent menu at Wendy's. The rollback smiley face at Walmart would have to rollback to even numbers. The ab rollers on infomercials couldn't be four easy installments of $19.99. So much of our consumerism is surrounded by the psychology that we are getting a bargin when the price ends in a nine. Think of the man hours it would take to reprice and remarket virtually all of the goods sold in America!

Or maybe life would be as it is here at Osan Air Base. The ONLY establishment on base that uses pennies is the post office. Just yesterday I bought a milkshake at Burger King on base. It was $1.39. The cashier said "$1.40, please" while the register clearly said $1.39. Today I bought some things at the BX and the total was $3.76. I gave the gal $3.75 and called it good. It's all about rounding. One would think that my exacting nature (cultivated by years as an accountant and even more years as a perfectionist) would be driven mad by the blantant disregard for exactness. But I've realized that the rounding is a lot easier than trying to re-think the way I shop.

This still leaves a bigger question--if the penny does bid farewell in our culture, will Hannah understand the saying "A penny saved is a penny earned"?

Here's a penny for your thoughts...