Our recent side-trip to Oregon gave me another chance to observe the odd American obsession with our Canadian money. Comments about the colour, denominations and nicknames for the cash (okay, I admit that “toonie” is a lame moniker) are ever-present when our Canadian currency is displayed and I have a couple of points for anyone with an unusual fascination with our moola:

1. I am really not sure that the Clown commuminty as a whole has one accepted form of currency, so please stop calling it “clown money.”

2. The colours help us tell them apart at a glance and reduce the risk of slipping a $50 bill to our cab driver instead of a $20 when we have been having a few too many at the bar. Good idea, no?

3. Stop trying to pull the middle out of the toonie. It’s way too hard, and besides, I think it is a federal offense.

4. Okay, so we don’t have a bill for anything under $5 anymore - just the one-dollar and two-dollar coins. But you can have a whole wad of cash in your pocket and still only have $7, whereas we can have $35 dollars worth of “just change” in our pockets and not even know it until we count it. I like good surprises.

5. Loonies may look like Pirate gold to you, but I can use it to get a coffee from Timmies while you are still trying to get the chocolate out of it.

Thank you. Carry on…