Why do they do that?

Why do so many people throw coins in mall fountains?  I've given this a lot of thought.  Well, maybe not a LOT but I do think about it every time I go to the mall, which, fortunately for me, is a lot less these days.  My wife finally figured out that the same hormones that enable me to fix cars and build decks also cause physiological symptoms at the mere thought of going to such a place, especially if the trip involves more than one pass by the ever present mall fountain.


Now, I don't have any particular objection to the fountains themselves.  In fact, the fountain may be the one piece of original architecture in the entire mall.  I haven't been keeping score but as far as I can remember, the fountains are different in just about every mall.  Kudos to construction managers, fountain designers and plumbing contractors everywhere.  What makes my eyes involuntarily roll back like the little glass bird after he's gotten his sip of water is the sight of all the coinage in these aquatic investment vehicles.  I believe you could put any water-tight container next to, or in the middle of, any pedestrian thoroughfare and people will throw money in it.

I know, I know.  Yer s'posta mek a weesh.  That's OK too...if you're four.  But I know anyone reading this has seen grown people of all ages chucking currency in these puddles.  Admit it, you've done it; haven't you?  Well cut it out.

You can say, "But the money goes to charity.  Don't you like charity?"  No, not particularly.  Charities never seem to solve anything.  They just seem to perpetuate their own existence.  But that's another post in and of itself.  Besides, look at the amount of money taken in by these establishments (namely malls) and some of them, I must admit, at least match the contributions but even that is pathetically small in comparison to what they are capable of.  Case in point: Target gives a lot of money away and they still seem to be able to compete.  I'm not advocating Target as a place to shop; I'm just trying to illustrate my point which is if you're going to give away money, make it a usable amount, not an insult.  Why not encourage people to give their money directly to these charities if they want to give.  Wishes are free and don't require a pool of water.

Even better, stay away from the mall, Target, Wal-Mart and any other faceless corporation.  Shop at locally owned businesses whenever possible.  Get to know the owners and managers.  Find out who's doing a good business.  If you own a business you can certainly appreciate what I'm saying.  Our communities would be a lot better off if people got to know one another and did business together.  Perhaps more of that would result in less need for charities to begin with.

I could follow these tangents ad infinitum but what I really wanted to do here was point out the absurdity of mindlessly throwing money in pools of water.  Think.