Time for Change?

Lots of people don't bother to stop and pick up change any more, and that seems to include at airport security.

In 2010, the last year for which a full tally is available, US passengers going through security at airports in this country left behind almost $410,000 in change.

Now, i can get how this could happen. Flying terrifies me to no end, so i can see myself getting so flustered at setting off alarms and having to empty my pockets that i would walk off without emptying out the little tray or basket or whatever it is they use these days.

This is happening so much, however, that it's not just the scaredy cats like me. Seasoned travelers must be getting so distracted that they just don't think to grab their change after putting back on the shoes, socks, belt, coat, or whatever and grabbing the cell phone, wallet, laptop, etc.

No matter why it happens, this is adding up to a serious chunk of change, with JFK in New York leading the pack with $47,000 left there. And it's not just Americans, as tourists from other countries, or citizens here leaving for overseas, left $30,000 in foreign currency behind as part of the overall total.

So, what happens to all the unclaimed loot? Right now, it goes into the TSA budget. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., wants to divert that money to a more worthy cause. The problem there is defining worthy. He's thinking the USO, but that would have pacifists upset. In fact, i dare you to find one "worthy" cause that wouldn't have people upset about money going there.

This means it's time to take time to grab your change, people. That way you can decide what worthy cause to give it to, even if it's a vending machine at the gate.


Today is:

Alasitis Fair -- Aymara Indians, Bolivia (offerings to the god of prosperity, now celebrated in conjunction with the Roman Catholic Feast of Our Lady of Peace, for whom La Paz is named)

Beer Can Appreciation Day -- the first canned beer went on sale today in 1935

Belly Laugh Day -- at 1:24pm local time, join the Belly Laugh Bounce Around the World!

Day of the Coming of Thoth -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Economic Liberation Day -- Togo

Eskimo Pie Day -- patented this day in 1921

Fairy-Four Paganalia -- Fairy Calendar

National Compliment Day -- begun by Debby Hoffman and Kathy Chamberlin, a day in which to compliment at least 5 people

National Peanut Butter Day

National Speak Up and Succeed Day -- become one of those people who aren't afraid of public speaking, practice!

Opposite Day -- internet generated, and fun if you play it right

Paul Pitcher Day (So called because it is the eve of the Celebration of St. Paul's Conversion on the road to Damascus. Cornish tin miners would traditionally set up a water pitcher in a public place and throw stones at it to destroy it. A replacement pitcher was then bought and filled with beer, which was drunk and replenished through the day. These miners were great inventors for reasons to celebrate, and they did this to rebel against the rule that only water was to be consumed during the work day.)

Sementivae, in honor of Ceres and Terra, begins -- Roman Empire

Social Sipping and Nibbling Rehearsal Day -- a day to practice cutting a piece of cake on a paper plate, using a plastic fork, and also balancing a napkin and punch in a paper cup; or practicing what clever thing you will say if you drop it all

St. Babylas' Day

St. Francis de Sales' Day (Patron of journalists, editors, writers; against deafness)

Sugamo Togenuki Jizo Taisai -- Kogan-ji Temple, Toyoshima-ku, Tokyo, Japan (readings from the "Sutra of Great Wisdom")

Traditional Day of Offering -- Bhutan

Unification Day -- Romania


Anniversaries Today:

Popeye meets Olive Oyl, 1929 (in Elzie Segar's Thimble Theater comic strip)


Birthdays Today:

Tatyana Ali, 1979
Mary Lou Retton, 1968
Nastassia Kinski, 1960
Jools Holland, 1958
Yakov Smirnoff, 1951
John Belushi, 1949
Warren Zevon, 1947
Sharon Tate, 1943
Neil Diamond, 1941
Aaron Neville, 1941
Ray Stevens, 1939
Maria Tallchief, 1925
Jerry Maren, 1920
Oral Roberts, 1918
Ernest Borgnine, 1917
Granny D (formerly Granny Haddock, or Ethel Doris Haddock, political activist)
Edith Wharton, 1862


Today in History:

Caligula, known for his cruel despotism, is assassinated and succeeded by his uncle Claudius, 41
Connecticut colony organizes under Fundamental Orders, 1639
The first Jewish doctor in US, Jacob Lumbrozo, arrives in Maryland, 1656
Henry Knox arrives at Cambridge, Massachusetts with the artillery that he has transported from Fort Ticonderoga, 1776
The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first full-fledged university in south Asia,1857
The Romania principality arises under King Alexander Cuza, with Bucharest as the capital, 1862
General Baden-Powell's publication of Scouting for Boys starts the Boy Scouts movement, 1908
The Gregorian calendar introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People's Commissars effective from February 14(NS), 1918
Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada, 1952
A bomber carrying two H-bombs breaks up in mid-air over North Carolina. The uranium core of one weapon remains lost, 1961
Jackie Robinson is elected to Baseball Hall of Fame, 1962
Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II, 1972
Soviet satellite Cosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor on board, burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada's Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered, 1978
The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale, 1984
Voyager 2 passes within 81,500 km (50,680 miles) of Uranus, 1986
Japan launches Hiten, the country's first lunar probe,and the first lunar probe launched by a country other than Soviet Union or the United States, 1990