This morning I picked up a 2p coin on the pavement. I picked one up yesterday as well, and a couple of days before I picked up a total of 15p in a small cluster on the pavement. Twice in recent times both Gill and myself have picked up a £2 coin, and it's become unusual to go for walk in the vicinity of our house without getting anything. you might well wonder where it comes from, but that's easy to explain. Some, of course, is the result of being accidentally dropped, and this certainly applies in the case of the larger denominations, but smaller denomination coins are simply being discarded as not worth bothering with, usually by young teenagers.
When I was growing up we were taught the value of money. We were taught that if you looked after the pennies then the pounds would look after themselves, and we learned that you needed to keep a watch on your pocket money, such as it was, and not waste it. We were taught that if you wanted something then it was important that you saved up for it first. We were taught that if we wanted money then we needed to work hard for it.
By comparison it seems nowadays that children ask for birthday and Christmas presents that are extremely expensive, urged on by advertisers who use encouraging phrases like "It's only £ xxx", and the figure can sometimes be as high as £499! How can children learn the value of money, or indeed anything else, if this is the way that they are led to believe is the right way? How often they can get a present which has cost maybe £200 or more, and then discard it in a few months or even weeks because there is something newer or bigger or with a different label that they decide they absolutely MUST have!
So who's really at fault? Is it the Advertisers who seek to relieve us of as much hard-earned cash as possible, or is it us for falling for the pressures of child-nagging and the need (at least perceived) for our children to equal their peer group? If all parents refused to be bullied then the peer groups would be much as they were in our younger days, and perhaps then the sense of balance would be restored along with a true sense of value. There is nothing truer than the fact that something achieved or obtained for no cost is usually of no value to the recipient.
Want to see change? And no, I don't mean the change that I find thrown away or carelessly dropped in the street. I mean a change in the way that people value what they have. Perhaps you have an idea of how you might achieve this. If you do then why not share it with my reader by posting your comment.
1 comment:
My husband read a book recently and discovered that a majority of millionaires will stoop to pick up a penny. They understand the value of every penny they are entrusted with. And they consider the cost of every purchase. Only the poor throw away their money on useless toys to make themselves feel rich.
My children are getting better at not asking for pricey items. It is hard when the other children are being bought pricy electronic gadgets and hundred dollar dolls. But we talk to them, and explain that God has given us our money to manage. We ask them to stop and think about whether God would be pleased with a particular purchase or if they believe the money could be used toward another purpose. Somehow, I don't believe they will be scarred for life from our withholding pricey trinkets from them.
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