The Texan and the Penny

The Texan and the penny

One of my favorite stories involves my grandson, now older and wiser, my son in law, also older and possibly wiser and a penny. We were all having a great time visiting Disneyland one summer when my son in law was suddenly convulsing with laughter. When he could pull himself together we asked him what was so funny. He pointed to my grandson, then about 5 years old. He was bent over and obviously intently trying to press something in his grip. When we asked him what he was doing he showed us the penny in his palm and explained he was trying to squeeze it like daddy did to make it change. We scratched our heads and he produced another coin which had been pressed with a picture of disneyland and was oblong shaped instead of round. We could tell it had once been a penny. He told us daddy had shown him how to make one by squeezing it in his grasp. He showed us while making a red face of concentration and determination. Still nothing happened. He was about to cry. Still scratching our heads the Texan tried to muffle his glee while pointing to a penny press machine nearby. Earlier when his son wasn't looking he had made a penny press for a quarter on the machine and then later pretended he made it using the old bait and switch trick evidently. For the rest of the day my grandson would spend his time in line trying to make a penny press with his hand. I'm not sure if his dad ever told him the truth.