Now I See The Problem

My husband got a refund check in the mail yesterday.  It happens. I am the person who pays the bills in the house, and occasionally my brain transposes numbers.   I never claimed to be a math wizard.

Businesses are very anal about knowing how much money they have. They have entire squadrons of accountants who do nothing but make sure that all accounts balance to the hundredth penny.  When someone overpays, a check must be printed on very special paper, with very special printer ink, and mailed to the person receiving the refund.

Very special check paper costs money.

Very special printer ink costs money. Probably way more money than the very special paper, even with a bulk discount.

Mailing envelopes, to mail the check, cost money.

Stamps, to mail the check, cost money.

All that effort on the part of a business, just to balance their accounts.  My estimate as to the total cost to send us our refund is about a dollar. It might be more. Have I mentioned that I am not a math wiz?

Know how much our refund check was for?  Fourteen cents. 

Does that sound kind of silly? It does to me. Surely there was a more cost effective way to do this?

When companies come running to the federal government, hat in hand, and whine about not being able to stay solvent in these horrible economic times, I want everyone to think about this.  If a private corporation, the pinnacle of capitalism, can't manage their costs better than spending a dollar on a fourteen cent refund, why do we expect the federal government to do so?

One Cent

My kid hearts McDonalds. Actually, he's a bit of a fanatic, thanks to 'evil' marketing people. I was okay with that. I was okay with the chicken nuggets and fries/apples. I was okay with the cheap toys. I was okay with a backseat sticky with apple juice. After all, buying a happy meal meant money going to the Ronald McDonald House. Since some of the money I was spending went to a worthy charity, I rationalized that my purchase was a good thing.

Until yesterday in the drive-thru. I happened to be looking at the same sign that talks about the Ronald McDonald House and how some of the money from Happy meals goes to that charity. The sign is at driver level, so you really can't miss it, and even though I've read it a thousand times, I always read it again while I'm waiting.

And this time I noticed the asterisk. I was close enough to read the tiny print: "one cent from every happy meal goes to the Ronald McDonald house".

One cent.

A Happy Meal costs around five bucks, give or take. The actual cost of a happy meal, including the box/bag and the toy, is probably around two bucks, if that. Then there's the markup, because a business has got to prosper. There must be profits for the shareholders, even if it means gouging the peasants who buy and use the products. That's the American Way, aka Capitalism. I suck at math, but that's a LOT of markup. A lot of profit.

One cent.

I understand that McDonald's sells bazillions of Happy Meals a day, and so that's a bazillion dollars that go to the Ronald McDonald House Charities. The Ronald McDonald House is a fine institution which has helped many, many people over the years, and for that it is to be celebrated.

Forgive me, however, if I think that a gargantuan, international organization like McDonald's should be giving more than a single cent to the charity associated with its namesake. The fact that this particular corporation only gives one cent says volumes about corporations and how they choose to contribute to the communities in which they prosper. But I digress.

One cent.

This particular blog post isn't about boycotting McDonald's. This is about the power of a penny. What if everyone out there made a pledge to save up their pennies for their favorite charity? Just about everyone can afford a penny here and there, and some of us can even afford one penny a day. (If you're like me, you probably have quite a few pennies at the bottom of your purse.)

Charities are desperate for funds right now, and since times are tough a lot more of us need the helping hand that those charities can provide. I've come to the realization that all those pennies adds up to money for food kitchens, animal shelters, community services, etc.

I am not writing this to demand that everyone follow me and save up their pennies for a charity.

I am not here to judge anyone about their charitable giving.

All I would like people to do is consider giving up a few pennies, and maybe pass it on.

One cent.

Think about it.