3803 I never got my penny

Monday, November 25, 2013

There's a huge world-wide Secret Santa network being set up through Reddit:  http://redditgifts.com/about/.

I guess I'm a cynic, because I don't believe it at all.  I don't believe the numbers of people, I don't believe the numbers of countries, and I especially don't believe that everyone will actually send decent gifts.  I do, however, believe that this is one heck of an idea for gathering names and addresses, AND interests!  Google ain't got nuttin on Reddit!

Back in the olden days of pen pals and love letters, there was something called a chain letter.  You'd get a letter with a list of the names and addresses of five people.  You were to send some token, like a penny or a postcard to the top name on the list, then make five copies of the letter with the top name/address removed and your name and address added to the bottom, and send it to five new people.  In theory, each person would receive over 3,000 pennies.

I always always always sent a penny to the top name.  Always.  And since I had no allowance and felt so poor, I made ten copies of the letter (handwritten, of course, we're talking about the late '50s) and used my mother's stamps to mail them, hoping that I would get over 6,000 pennies back.

I never got a single penny or postcard.  Never.  Not one.  No one I ever asked ever got a penny.  The only people in the entire world who ever got a penny were, apparently, the ones I sent pennies to.

Way to feel like a patsy.  Maybe this is what contributes to my cynicism.

...and then there were the kids who bragged that they didn't add their name to the end - they jumped the line and added themselves to the top, so they'd get pennies sooner.  They didn't see the hole in that, no matter how many times I tried to explain it.
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