Some snippets.....

During this time of year we have an organization that puts bins at both the entrance/exit doors of the building where I work for the purpose of accepting food donations. The organization then transports them all back to a central location and they are distributed....probably after being checked over first to make sure the food is acceptable.

I have a couple stories concerning this. We've been getting in a lot of donations and the bins are over-flowing....which is really good, especially during these hard times. It makes your heart swell to see such an outpouring of compassion.

Well, we have a certain resident in the area who is quite colorful, to say the least. The other day she walked in and helped herself to several choice bags of food and started to leave the building. She was intercepted and kindly told that these items are for the needy and she said that she certainly was needy. Then it was explained to her that they had to be taken back to a central location before being distributed and if she would contact that organization, then she could get what she wanted from them. She reluctantly agreed and put back the bags. None of us really think that she qualifies but that will be up to the organization to decide.

The second story is just plain sad and will make you angry. A lot of people put food in those bins that is expired. A woman called one of the offices (thank God I wasn't the one to take that call) and said she was bringing up a lot of food but wanted to know how fast it was going to be distributed because it had all expired....some just expired and some up to a year. The employee who answered our phone got it across to her that why in the world did she think that just because someone was needy, that they deserved to eat expired food? The woman argued that it was perfectly good as long as it didn't sit around too much longer....then our employee said....then YOU eat it. HA. I love it!

I'll end this post with a warning. A friend of my grandson's cashed his small paycheck at a convenience store a couple days ago. When he got home he was looking at the cash and thought some of it looked a little odd. Come to find out.....$120 of it was counterfeit. All twenty dollar bills.

From what we are finding out....but I don't have 100% of the details....if you get counterfeit money, you are stuck with it. No bank is going to change them for good money. You might be able to get the business you got them from to change them out.....in good faith if they want to keep you for a customer...but it would certainly depend on the business. And...of course, if you can PROVE you got them from there in the first place. For the most part the business doesn't want to get stuck with them either. So you should make a police report, of course, but don't plan on getting your money back. Cash your paychecks at a BANK. You are not going to get counterfeit from a bank and on the off-chance that you DO, they will replace it if you can prove you got it from them. (so check your money right as you get it) Remember, the 20's have that strip embedded in them.

In these times, we are going to be hearing more and more about stuff like this. Matter of fact, anything that isn't nailed down probably will be stolen from you. You can purchase a counterfeit detection pen very reasonably at any office supply store. You make a mark on the money in question and if it turns a certain color, then its not any good. We should all have one of these pens on us so we can check. Make sure you check your change very carefully. With the excellent capabilities of today's printers, a really good copy of money can be made. Professional counterfeiters don't fool with twenty-dollar bills, but that's what's showing up now. These people are amateurs with good computer equipment and I guess they figure no one really scrutinizes a small bill and they'll get away with it easier. Their thinking seems to be correct. Be careful.....its a jungle out there!