Would you bend down for 5p?...

The other day I was walking past the parking ticket machine at the Castle car park and noticed a shiney new 5 pence coin on the floor. A whole shilling, two tanners, a week's wages in Victorian times for the working class man. No one else around, all I had to do was bend down, grab ahold of it and I could have been 5p richer. But I didn't, maybe because I've had a bit of a sore back recently, maybe because I was in a bit of a rush; but I think mainly, simply, because it wasn't worth the effort. Afterall 5p will buy you virtually bugger all these days, not even a sachet of tomato ketchup at the chippie. When I were a lad (and it doesn't seem so very long ago) I could buy a sixpenny mix which was chips, mushy peas and batter scaps for, well sixpence, that's six old pence, half a shilling. My God, I thought to myself afterwards, now I won't even reach down to the ground for it. Also this week, I was short of silver change for the Somerfield newly imposed car parking charge; some lads were at the machine who I asked to change some copper coins for a 5p. They were very helpful and said "...here have 10p instead of 5p mate..." and they wouldn't take my coppers, saying that they didn't want that "shrapnel" filling up their pockets. So, there you are, there's a business idea in these harsh economic times: stand around change machines asking anyone for 5 pence coins. Within a week you may collect a small, if heavy, fortune....