Pad of greenbacks

Before I leave on an extended tour, I stop at a bank and get a pack of new one-dollar bills. They come 100 to a bundle a little over an inch thick.

I then take this pack to a local print shop which prepares business forms and ask them to cut a piece of cardboard the exact size of a dollar bill. I have them place it at the bottom of the stack of bills and use rubber cement on one end of the stack, gluing the bills together to make a pad of money with a cardboard backing. (FedEx Kinko’s shops provide this service.)

This becomes what I call my “executive scratch pad.” It’s easy to carry in my shirt pocket, and I simply tear off a bill or bills for tips or small purchases.

Of course, this often raises an eyebrow, and there are careful inspections of the money’s authenticity. It also gives me an opportunity to spin a yarn about how long it took to print the bills that morning!

LAWRENCE NELSON
Ashland, OR