It's legal tender, and it's not like there was any skin off the employees nose, the ticket payer actually had to go to more work to have all the pennies rolled at the bank. Just take the pennies, the only thing city hall has done in this instance is validated what the man wanted to do. He became a pain in the butt. I agree with Hollywood Bob as well. He offered payment with legal tender, and they refused it. I mean it's not like he tried to pay with a picture of a 7 legged spider or something!

Do you think that the guy filming it was tilting his head back and forth too? And they were just copying him? The one to left was always a little off.
Pugs are really cute. I have a pet skunk that has that same perpetually concerned look on his face. As for the dog and George Bush, maybe he's confused as to which one it is.

Max Power
psy?chol?o?gy
? ?/sa??k?l?d?i/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [sahy-kol-uh-jee] Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -gies.

1. the science of the mind or of mental states and processes.
2. the science of human and animal behavior.
3. the sum or characteristics of the mental states and processes of a person or class of persons, or of the mental states and processes involved in a field of activity: the psychology of a soldier; the psychology of politics.

psy·chi·a·try (s?-k?'?-tr?, s?-) Pronunciation Key
n. The branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental and emotional disorders.

In case you didn't read the entire article,
the article does mention specifically, teachers harming students psyche with use of red pen, there being a large concern over suicidal tendencies of students, and the general mental health of students. All things that would fall under the care of a psychologist or psychiatrist in normal circumstances.
Although, I will concede to the "essay" portion of your comment. Unfortunately, I talk as prolifically as I write. Pardon the length of this particular contribution as the definitions that were provided took up a large portion of it.

Not the teachers place to dictate how other people celebrate the holidays. Let kids be kids for what little time they have. Plus, I'm 34, and I still get presents in my stocking every year. As for being fired, that's the schools prerogative. If she didn't have a problem disclosing that information to her young pupils, what would she have told someone who had just gotten a baby brother or sister? Again, that really should be a parents place. Not a teachers.

How much more crap do we need to dump on our teachers? We're asking them to be psychologists/psychiatrists as well as teaching our children? Why don't they send fthose "personal skill audits" home to the parents, so they can teach their children how to behave in a civil manner. I think what's making our kids so miserable is the fact that they are having more and more stuff crammed into their brains at a younger and younger age. They're not getting the chance to comprehend the basics before being pushed on to the advanced stuff. Colleges are making more requisites to get into college, plus if you want a scholarship, you had best have an extra curricular activity that you excel at, tuition is going up, and stuff that used to be considered college material is getting pushed back into high school. So, too much homework, too many extra activities, too many hormones, lack of sleep, and lots and lots of stress, and we wonder why the hell we get shootings in schools? Who cares about the damned color of the pen, show some common sense when it comes to what you're asking of children. Seems more like they're suffering from PTSD, and that's just from the schools! God forbid they come from a less than ideal home life! I knew how to read when I was 3 but I didn't know how to operate a computer until I was 20. My daughter is 5, doesn't read yet, but can operate computer programs like it was nothing. I'm really concerned about sending my child to a regular school, and I'm really seeing the benefits of home schooling her. Certainly she's less likely to get shot down by a homicidal classmate if she learns at home!

Of course! The courageous Despereaux. Of course considering when I became acquainted with Algernon, he could be a distant ancestor of both of them. (ooooooooold)

I would be interested to find out what changes he has made to his lifestyle. If he's under a certain income limit, his wife's medications can be gotten at a serious discount or even free from some companies. Also, if she is disabled, she may be able for social security disability, and medicare. Has he bothered to look for a job outside of his current area? Considered the idea of moving to a place where there may be more jobs, and a lower cost of living? I do find it interesting that people are not finding his resume online etc. Whatever the case is, I hope he does find something to help support his family, that his daughter realizes that her father should not be paying her student loans, and that he realizes that he may really have to make some radical lifestyle changes to be able to get by. BTW, does it list his address on his resume? I'd be interested to know where he lives and what his home is valued at.

I love it! Hurray for Brain Storm! Is he any relation to Algernon?

l hope they are able to prosecute this mans murderers, but out of respect for their employee, Walmart should have closed for the day, and nothing should have been sold to the mongrels that killed him. All they did was reward horrific behavior. I hope that this mans family sues Walmart for far more than was earned in profits that day. I also hope that the employees that had to sit there and watch their coworker die are compensated for their trauma as well. I don't think this has anything to do with NY. This could have happened anywhere.

He had it buried in his backyard. How was that on his heart? He knew he was doing something wrong. It wasn't his decision to make.
Frau, if you figured a way to keep the stuff that annoys you out of your mailbox with the legalese of the USPS, that is fabulous! Share with others, please! My own personal pet peeve is people other than my carrier slipping stuff into my mailbox. I find that many religious organizations are prone to doing that, and I've complained formally about it. People put strange things in the mail. Every spring brings baby chickens, ducks, and bees. Once a full grown peacock went through our local PO. How would you like to deliver that?

He should have delivered it. Postal carriers have an excellent union, and if he was having difficulties carrying the mail due to health issues, they could have reassigned him to something else. Yes, I realize that people would love to say "Stop sending me junk mail", however, the marketing will happen anyway. Would you rather receive annoying phone calls in the middle of dinner? How about on your cell phones. Direct mailing is a really important part of the economy, and it keeps people like Padgett employed. I wonder how great he's going to be feeling without a paycheck coming in. Not only that, but I don't really like the idea of somebody else deciding for me which of my mail is "junk" and which isn't. I know that some of my credit card info is purposely disguised as inconspicuous junk mail to deter theft. He had lots of other options that were within his job description, and within the law that could have worked out a lot better for him. It doesn't sound like diabetes and heart issues are the only problem here. I would say that a mental health checkup would be required before he's brought back on the job. I don't like junk mail either, however, there is food on my table and a roof over my head because of it.

It makes me sad too. The worlds honeybees are actually dying out at an unprecedented rate from what I understand. Not only that, but the honey was contaminated with the bomb, so all their hard work was wasted! I know it's probably just another media scare, but I've read articles that plant pollination could drop drastically because of the lowering population of honeybees. But I see the guys position, he wants to use his grill, knows it's got bees in it, who in their right mind is going to stick their head under to find out how many are under there, much less that they've created those enormous honey combs. I'm sure he was staggered by the results.

Oh come on, take it for what it is, 3 guys having a good time doing something fun. We're not talking multimillion dollar movies here. I really enjoyed the choose your own adventure stories when I was a kid. But I had one that would take you to a chapter and then that chapter would reroute you back to the original chapter. It was very frustrating.

I don't watch tv, and unless you count neatorama.com as a serious newssource, I don't get news off the internet. I will say that one of the things that influenced me the most to vote for Obama was McCain supporters themselves. I have received on a daily basis at least one nasty mud-slinging anti-Obama piece of mail from McCain supporters for the past several months. However, I did not receive anything of the like against McCain. I would say that McCain supporters practically CHASED me onto the Obama side of the fence simply by not being able to have McCain stand on his own merits instead of trying to undermine the competition. It was spiteful, hateful material, and again even here in this particular forum, I hear a lot of nice supportive things from Obama supporters toward McCain, for example, how classy and dignified they felt his speech was. I wish McCain supporters were behaving likewise. So it is possible that media via mail influenced my decision, but it was all sent to me from supporters of Mr. McCain, much like yourself. I don't know if Barack Obama will be able to change this country for the better. I can honestly say that I never watched a single debate. But I can say that hope springs eternal, and THAT is what you are seeing from his supporters.

I voted for president for the first time ever, and I'm 34 years old. I am not deeply entrenched in politics as so many people are. But I have seen the decline in our country in the past 8 years, and I voted for Obama, because something desperately needs changed, and I could see that it was NOT going to happen with McCain in office. McCain appears to be very similar to our current President Bush, and although I realize that George W. started out his presidency on a seriously sour note with 9/11, he has had quite a few years to try and fix things for the better, and it has not happened. Obama is hope for our nation not only because it shows how our country has progressed in a very short period of time regarding race, but because he is offering something different from what we have now. And what we have now is not good.
I am proud that Americans have shaken off their apathy and voted. It is but a first step of many.