With our current president looking at purging the U.S. penny from the American currency system, others seem to be of like mind, as evidenced at Always Ice Cream in Annapolis, Maryland. Repurpose instead of disposal on their minds. Because yes, pennies have become devalued in a climate of high inflation and inflated sales taxes. The word “tariff” become the most cringe term in our lexicon these days.

Each of the ice cream shops on Main Street in the historic town are logjammed with customers, to the point you might find yourself needing a hop out of line to the bathroom as I did in my recent trip to Annapolis with TJ. We’d come out of Middleton Tavern an hour beforehand and strolling the back streets off the main drag, me loaded up with the local ale. Something had to give. Luckily, she held the fort in line, so to speak.

It’s a unisex restroom, so anyone can get a look at it, but there’s something stark and amusing to find an entire floor tiled with wall-to-wall pennies. Squat or stand for your business, you will be captured by the sight and wonder to yourself how much time and effort the owners took to come up with this novel design. Or you might find yourself counting them, trying to approximate a total like one of those candy in a jar guessing games.

Just don’t let your ice cream melt in the process!

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.