Three times in the past two weeks, I have found paper money, dollar bills, on the ground. I have found a single dollar twice and two dollars once. It’s unusual. I’m used to seeing pennies, probably because nobody picks them up; they are useless, a waste of everyone’s time, and should have been retired years ago. Every once in a while, maybe once every couple of weeks, I’ll find a nickel, dime, or quarter (I pick those up; that’s real money). I almost never find bills just lying on the ground, though. Until the last two weeks, I probably found a bill once every couple of years.
I’m going to assume that somewhere above 80% of people would notice a dollar bill on the ground and that more than 90% of those people would pick one up. That means that the four bills that I found, all of which were lying on the sidewalk or floor in plain view and in public places, hadn’t been there long.
The first time I found a bill, I was surprised. I looked around on the street, and there was nobody. The second time, I found two bills inside a building. I looked around again, holding them up to see if anyone would claim them. Today, though, as soon as I saw the bill, I knew it was for me. I just slowed my bike down, bent over, put it in my pocket, and kept going.
Somebody out there is taking care of me.