Someone just did. My dog and I paused at a busy intersection
yesterday, right where a four-lane divided county highway meets a busy
thoroughfare. As we waited for the light, I saw a runner crossing on the other
side. Suddenly, the guy stopped and bent to the ground to pick something up.
As he held the tiny found item in one hand, I saw the sunlight
flash from it. It was a coin!
Just then, a car veered around the runner, still standing in
the busy roadway. I gasped, almost afraid to look.
Um, what?
The scene set me to thinking. (Yes, my mind tends to run
down some intriguing pathways, while I am pounding the pavement or trudging the
trails. Maybe yours does too. It’s a running thing.)
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Photo/s by LAN/Runderdog. All rights reserved
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Would you stop to
pick up money, if you found it on a run?
OK, I admit it. I have done this. One of my most consistent
training run routes takes me past a local bank. For some reason, coins seem to
fall out of cars along that roadway. More than once, I have spotted a quarter.
I’ve even seen piles of coins. Sometimes I have picked ‘em up and tucked 'em in my phone caddy, if there’s no traffic
swerving around me.
Like nearly everyone else I know, we have a couple of coin
jars around the house. Loose change (and even the occasional found change) goes
in there with a happy little plunk.
These mysterious little gifts can add up. OK, no one’s likely
to collect enough this way to pay race fees (unless you run through fast-food
drive-up windows after they close).
Still, spotting coinage can feel like a win sometimes, even
if pausing to snatch it up adds a few seconds on the run tracking clock.
Have you ever come
home with found money from a run?
I’m not talking about spotting someone’s wallet in the
street. Most runners would probably pause to pick that up and try to find a way
to turn it in someplace – at least, if it doesn’t happen in the middle of a
timed race.
I even found someone’s cell phone on a country road shoulder
once. I gave it to a cop, who was parked at a gas station up the road a bit. (I
guess random lost cell phones aren’t uncommon finds for runners.)
That’s not the
question.
What if you spot a couple bucks on the ground, while you’re
out on a run? Or some loose change? Would you stop for a quarter? A dime? A penny?
Still, if you’re willing to stop in the middle of the road –
especially a busy highway – then I’ve gotta hand it to you. Better yet, I’ll
call 911 for you.