Skip to main content

6 October 2007 - I'm just trying to be a better person. My name is Max.

I went on one of my classic Nutella/Crunchy Nut Clusters run today to FoodTown (the conveniently named supermarket down in Auckland) and my total came to $34.60. Yes, that is a lot of Nutella. It should probably last me the weekend. So I paid with two twenties and when I got my change, I found that I had received $9 in change as opposed to $5.40.
(Sidebar re: New Zealand currency. On the long list of things that took some getting used to were the $1 and $2 coins. I come from a land that couldn't handle the Sacagawea dollar let alone the JFK half dollar, so a $2 coin is just ludicrous. The paper money down here is amazingly colorful though and has a different famous Kiwi on each bill. You've got Sir Edmund Hilary on the $5, Kate Sheppard on the $10, and that little Hobbit Rudy is on the $50).
So I can only assume that the checker grabbed two $2 coins as opposed to two 20 cent pieces. By the time I figured this out, the checkstand was already closed and I was a half mile down the street.

Now, I already know that I'm going to hell. That was determined a LOOOOOOOONG time ago, probably during that scavenger hunt when I stole a Vietnam Vet's fake leg and then used it to club baby seals up in Canada. Yeah, third grade was pretty wild. But even though there's no hope of giving St. Peter a high five, I always figured that I had good karma.

I have $3.60NZD on my conscience and it's killing me. I could easily just piss it away on Power Bars and hookers, but I need to do something positive with this gift. So I've resolved to make a difference. Maybe I'll drop it in the hat of the first hobo I see down on Queen Street, or I may use it to endow a scholarship so that inner city kids can find self esteem through orthodontics.
Other ideas include:
1) Buy trash bags and pick up garbage
2) Salvation Army
3) Keep it
4) Sponsor a poor African Child
5) Keep it
6) Drop it on the street and make someone else feel lucky
7) Put it in the church collection plate
and 8) Keep it

Any other ideas are welcome, since I'm currently leaning towards #3, 5, or 8.

-MGD
Max Davison is a Junior at Claremont McKenna College, currently majoring in Entourage and Fantasy Football. He finds it kind of funny, and he finds it kind of sad that the dreams in which he's dying are the best he's ever had.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Kickstarter Project Update #37 - Our 3D printed water bottles and our co-founder are being held hostage by pirates

Dear Backers/fellow dream chasers, Fourteen months ago, you proudly declared that not only did you want a BPA-free water bottle with a custom-printed conforming grip, but you also agreed with the core message and vision of H20DNA.   Part of that mission statement includes being upfront about our delivery timeline.   The good news is that we have finally manufactured every single bottle and they are truly amazing.   There is, however, one minor, fairly negligible hiccup.   Nicaraguan pirates have abducted the completed shipment of bottles as well as our co-founder, Eric Steen-Owens. But do not worry.   Start-up culture means always following through, and just as you didn’t quit when we challenged you to hit the stretch goals of a fanny pack attachment and CamelBak adaptor straw, we will not stop until those bottles (and Eric) are delivered to your door and the US consulate, respectively. -For those of you who pledged up to $35 dollars...

David Foster Wallace Writes CVS Receipts

CVS PHARMACY - Transaction #3187420 CVS Nasal Decongestant 1  - $17.89 Starbucks 2  Doubleshot Vanilla - $2.77 Gillette shaving cream - $7.99 3 2x Right Guard deodorant 4   - $5.49 Advil 60 ct 5 - $4.69 Neutrogena facial cleanser 6 - $5.99 Total: $44.82 Cash 7 transaction - Paid $50.00 Change: $5.18 Trip summary - Today you saved: 18% Thank you 8 ! ********** 1. Allergies had been a constant issue for Hal ever since a family trip to Puget Sound twenty years ago prompted his esophagus to close up.   Ear, nose and throat issues had always plagued his family, with the exception of his sister Brenda, the golden child who never suffered agonizing sneezing fits; she of the preternaturally infectious energy normally reserved for golden retriever puppies or Roger Federer in the fifth set at Wimbledon. Hal’s deviated septum led to chronic sinusitis and a perpetual need for antihistamines.   Today he was opting for the store br...

1 October 2007 - The One Where Max Lives like he was dying

Now this might sound like a slightly melodramatic overexaggeration, but over this past weekend, I faced a crossroads that changed the structure of my entire being and put me on a completely different path. If you're still reading, I applaud you and ask you to bare with me. Basically, I had a choice: One option meant that I would stay in Auckland and work on my 1500 word " Singin' in the Rain " paper as well as my upcoming in-class essay on Paul Gauguin. The other involved a weekend long trip that would put me in mortal danger and annihilate the balance of my checking account. So the choice was obvious. And I? I took the road less traveled by and decided to drive down to Lake Taupo on Friday afternoon and put off my papers until...well...right now (and I suppose this blog gives me yet another outlet for procrastination). So what was this mystery trip? I was going to wake up on Saturday morning and put my pants on one leg at a time. But once my pants were on, I wa...