The idea that "give a penny take a penny" is a microcosm of the central principle of communism struck me one day whilst working behind the counter at a convenience store. I would watch this elegant system play out everyday and I kept close watch: ensuring that nobody threw in a dime or a battery or a piece of gum, or took more than they needed (after all, it required some government oversight to preserve integrity and equity). I thought about changing the sign to read "to each according to need, from each according to ability" just to see what would happen but I got fired before I had the chance. Okay, so maybe I was a little too concerned about regulating the penny dish and a little less concerned about monitoring actual theft; some teenagers were selling our candy bars down the street for half the price.
Many years later, I thought this idea would make a nice Approaching Zero cartoon. It seems particularly apt now, when we are caught in some freakish age of social purity where pettiness reigns supreme.
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