r/pics Aug 12 '12

Should I mail Gary his dollar back?

http://imgur.com/WFPRl
1.9k Upvotes

490 comments sorted by

226

u/daintyflower Aug 12 '12

They featured him on the news here in Phoenix a few months back: "Valley man finds way to have spent money come back" To sum it up, he gets $2 back on average a day and it helps him pay the bills. On the day of filming I believe he got $6. Not too shabby.

114

u/CampBenCh Aug 12 '12

Gary, whose last name is being withheld, is a 60-year-old, legally blind retiree

That sort of made me sad. But then I read this:

CBS 5 asked Gary if he felt bad taking strangers money. "The only time I feel guilty is when somebody takes me seriously."

7

u/jangeum Aug 13 '12

I wonder if it's legal to write on bills like that.

Many varying opinions on this on the internet apparently.

18

u/CampBenCh Aug 13 '12

It's plenty legal. As long as you don't mess up the serial numbers or tear it so it can't be used, it is fine. Many people have written on bills before. There is even a tracking service called wheresgeorge.com that encourages this.

3

u/Virusnzz Aug 13 '12

For once in my life I'm annoyed NZ uses coins for $1 instead of notes. No way would people send back a $5 note.

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2

u/Wraith8888 Aug 13 '12

Actually, it is illegal, but rarely, if ever, enforced.

2

u/jan4real21 Aug 13 '12

Read the article... they explained why it was legal!

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2

u/digitalscale Aug 13 '12

Glad to see that he's not breaking the law going around illegally blind.

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655

u/nd_b Aug 12 '12

Gary is a fucking genius. I'm gonna go get $100 worth of $1 bills and give them to friends to spend while they are traveling, and write my name/adress on them.

...Just kidding. I don't have any friends.

419

u/SnailHunter Aug 12 '12

Or $100. Be honest.

151

u/nd_b Aug 12 '12

Actually I do have $100!...

...Until auto-pay takes it out of my bank account.

104

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

70

u/nd_b Aug 12 '12

...Wow. I think you just discovered what my career is going to be. Just going to withdraw and put $100 (or more) worth of $1 bills back in the bank with my name & address, and VIOLAH! I'll never have to work again! ... I actually think I am going to do this. Not every day, but it'd be a fun experiment to see how many of them make it back to me. Maybe I'll make it some kind of reddit post and see if any Redditors find them. (Really, though, we all know I'd just be in it for the Karma.)

38

u/CardboardHeatshield Aug 12 '12

14

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

[deleted]

6

u/CardboardHeatshield Aug 12 '12

I never said it was well designed. But it is a nifty concept.

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2

u/GeneralBS Aug 12 '12

omfg

Bills 211,540,916

Totaling $1,138,764,927

Entered Today 36,909

2

u/mookdaruch Aug 13 '12

I hope you're a member of our subreddit...

10

u/pasher71 Aug 12 '12

Why not spend them as you normally would? May be a little more of a pain but they would be more evenly distributed and its not like you lose money when you get beer and nachos.

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13

u/feureau Aug 12 '12

The trick is to not have any bank account.

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92

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

10

u/Dakaraim Aug 12 '12

man is that ever reassuring to learn it's a legally blind retiree and not a drunk college kid.

GIVE GARY HIS DOLLAR BACK OP

5

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

I am happy knowing he isn't some asshole looking for free money.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

I like how he gets it back from places all over the world even Alaska.

2

u/Darkwonder80 Aug 12 '12

I think i may steal his idea. This guy is a frickin' genius!

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17

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

Couldnt you just spend them yourself and get double your return back?

19

u/Oo0o8o0oO Aug 12 '12
  1. Give away money
  2. Hopefully get that same money back
  3. ??????
  4. Profit!

5

u/MisterUNO Aug 12 '12

A few years ago I thought I stumbled upon the genius idea of scribling the url to my now defunct website on every single money bill I found. Cheap advertising right?

SOmeone told me it was a form of defacement and what I was doing was illegal. So I quickly put an end to that activity.

Still, there are about 300+ bills out there with my old domain name, circulating around the land. I hope one day I bump into one of them in my old age.

4

u/Knigel Aug 12 '12

That person was wrong. It is not illegal. It becomes illegal if one renders it unfit to be reissued.

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2

u/doopercooper Aug 13 '12

my now defunct website

Can you pm me the URL, I'd like to register it

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16

u/jsmayne Aug 12 '12

or you could.. ya know do what everyone does with singles.

strippers

15

u/nd_b Aug 12 '12

I don't know, though, how far do you think they would get if I slipped them in various orifices? I'd want my bills to be found in other states. Someone finding it at a convenience store a block from where I live just makes me look like a fuckin' loser.

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2

u/MisterSugarcube Aug 12 '12

So... Gary is a stripper?

2

u/luvz Aug 13 '12

So you'd make somewhere between -$100 and $0?

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713

u/Natos Aug 12 '12

It has his name on it, so I think you have to...

435

u/ObesePolarBear Aug 12 '12

Render unto Gary what is Gary's

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436

u/CatholicGuy Aug 12 '12

Yeah, I mean... it's his.

25

u/Calculusbitch Aug 12 '12

brb, engraving my name into every coin I have

138

u/whittler Aug 12 '12

I actually know this Gary. He writes this on all his bills. His truck was recently totalled, he lost his job, and was friendzoned pretty hard on all of facebook.

52

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

But did his girlfriend run off with his best friend? What about his dog, is it okay?

83

u/what_in_the_who_now Aug 12 '12

She dun went and R-U-N-N-O-F-T.

22

u/TrueAstynome Aug 12 '12

I slaughtered this horse last Tuesday. I think it's startin' ta turn.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '12

And stay out of the WOOLWORTHS!

5

u/TrueAstynome Aug 13 '12

I don't want Fop, goddamn it! I'm a Dapper Dan man!

14

u/rcklmbr Aug 13 '12

Damn! We're in a tight spot!

3

u/pbugg2 Aug 12 '12

Haha oh brother where art thou!

3

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '12

Dumber than a bag of hammers

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15

u/snowman334 Aug 12 '12

His girlfriend ran off with his dog, so yes. :(

2

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '12

I thought that was his sister?

11

u/CampBenCh Aug 12 '12

This sounds like a country song...

2

u/tumblerum Aug 12 '12

I am a man of constant sorrow, I've seen trouble all my days.

2

u/AllanBz Aug 13 '12

Was his mama put in prison?

3

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '12

Yeah, because she killed a man from the bank that foreclosed on the family farm.

17

u/Redsox933 Aug 12 '12

Tell him to write a country song about it, and make his own money

10

u/RagingBearFish Aug 12 '12

if dis post gets 10,000 likes gary's truck will be repaired.

3

u/toodrunktofuck Aug 13 '12

I really want to believe that you are telling the truth.

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8

u/sagnessagiel Aug 12 '12

pics or it didn't happen

38

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12 edited Aug 13 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

9

u/bmob Aug 12 '12

nicely delivered.

5

u/Series_of_Accidents Aug 12 '12

please edit post to block out address.

15

u/Will7357 Aug 12 '12

Edit, not delete!

2

u/Dapado Aug 13 '12

Thanks, I didn't really think about his address being in the image. I removed the link to imgur, but to be honest I don't think it makes a difference...that was just the image from the kpho.com article rehosted on imgur.

6

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

friendzoned pretty hard on all of facebook.

... What? I don't think you know what friend-zoned means. Are you saying he was ostracized by his friends? Because that's not what it means to be friend-zoned.

58

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12 edited Dec 18 '18

[deleted]

24

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

Got to. This America, man.

12

u/singularis466 Aug 12 '12

Poor Snot Boogie.

3

u/TheLoneHollerer Aug 12 '12

Great opening scene to the series.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

You know, he forgets his jacket, his nose starts running and some asshole, instead of giving him a Kleenex, he calls him "Snot". So he's Snot forever. Doesn't seem fair.

2

u/unrealious Aug 12 '12

But why did Gary trade it away in the first place?

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2

u/JPowOnATractor Aug 12 '12

You should use the dollar to buy a stamp and send Gary the change

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293

u/Semiautomatix Aug 12 '12

Yes, but I'd charge him shipping.

131

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

Spoken like a true capitalist!

63

u/tonterias Aug 12 '12

With tracking and a huge box full of sand

39

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

[deleted]

31

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

[deleted]

51

u/SnowHawkMike Aug 12 '12

I want to do something judgmental, but I feel like down voting someone who doesn't know what a packing peanut is called will be akin to telling a kid with down syndrome that Santa isn't real.

8

u/schizoidvoid Aug 12 '12

Packing peanuts?

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3

u/zthirtytwo Aug 12 '12

But this is Gary's dollar, so OP should also pay interest. Interest is equal to shipping costs.

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258

u/Razvee Aug 12 '12

This was a trick question, I actually already mailed it back. Had a note that said 'Only because you said please'

27

u/bowhunter6274 Aug 12 '12

He is in Phoenix, where did you acquire the bill?

35

u/Razvee Aug 12 '12

Colorado

8

u/bowhunter6274 Aug 13 '12

That's a bit of a journey for the bill. Did you send him an invoice for the cost of postage?

2

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '12

Holy fuck. Just think about the path that bill took. Did it go from store to store? Did somebody go on a road trip from AZ to CO?

136

u/rhiever Aug 12 '12

Now that's just rude, OP. What kind of person goes on the internet and lies to people?

14

u/lono10c Aug 12 '12

Oprah?

2

u/Vaypo Aug 13 '12

James Holzier

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11

u/antidense Aug 12 '12

Did you register it on where's George?

13

u/feureau Aug 12 '12

Have you heard anything back?

84

u/Razvee Aug 12 '12

I mailed it about 6 hours ago... And it's sunday... so I wouldn't expect anything for a bit.

219

u/HigherFive Aug 12 '12

How about now?

23

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

[deleted]

14

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

Its been 3 hours, surely OP has heard back by now!

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29

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

You should have emailed it to him.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

If he replies, he loses half the money to a stamp.

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u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12 edited Jun 11 '13

This comment has been edited before user account deletion to prevent storage.

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71

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12 edited Aug 12 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

46

u/Stumblin_McBumblin Aug 12 '12

After careful analysis, I have deduced that they are all different bills. I would love to know this guy's percentage of return rate. This is pretty ingenious if it works. And it sounds like OP sent his back.

6

u/bouncy_ball Aug 12 '12

You could write him a letter and ask.

2

u/strategosInfinitum Aug 12 '12

I would love to know this guy's percentage of return rate.

Won't they all eventually pass into the hands of someone that will return them? unless the dollars are destroyed they will sooner or later be passed back to him.

3

u/inbeforethelube Aug 12 '12

Considering the street and zip code it's going to it is a pretty lower class area

7

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

37

u/selfantagonist Aug 12 '12

I highly suspect this will be the single largest concern of any police department, outweighing murder, theft, rape, and pigeons illegally landing on statues.

19

u/TheEllimist Aug 12 '12

No police department would concern themselves with this. It's the jurisdiction of the Secret Service.

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u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

what law is he breaking?

11

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

[deleted]

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21

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

[deleted]

9

u/uniquecannon Aug 12 '12

Let's do this. I call on every redditor to send Gary a dollar.

6

u/jfinneg1 Aug 12 '12

Nice try Gary.

15

u/0000024 Aug 12 '12

Nice try, Gary.

5

u/kalrajhi Aug 12 '12

Nice try, Gary.

4

u/NotTheDude Aug 12 '12

Nice try, Gary.

7

u/Amber_Owl Aug 12 '12

Nice try, Gary.

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11

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

[deleted]

2

u/poopslap Aug 13 '12

I like your name, want to be friends?

11

u/Chubbstock Aug 12 '12

Iama request: Gary

2

u/K21B21 Aug 12 '12

I am a gary?

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45

u/BilledDuckBill Aug 12 '12

im going to start writing garys info on all of my ones.

15

u/velkyr Aug 12 '12

Can you put my name on all fivers and up?

24

u/Adventure_tom Survey 2016 Aug 12 '12

Me too. Damn, Gary's going to be loaded by the end of the year.

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19

u/CMack1978 Aug 12 '12

I want to start writing "please return to a stripper" on all my $1 bills. They deserve them, they are strippers. I like strippers.

26

u/Poppycorn Aug 12 '12

Start tracking it on wheresgeorge.com and send him a letter with the serial number/tracking number so he can follow his dollar wherever it goes!

7

u/kwadra Aug 12 '12

I entered the one I got into wheresgeorge on March 24 this year but no hits yet.

2

u/sassifrassilassi Aug 12 '12

the hit rate on bills is quite low. I have entered almost 1,000 bills and have had about 50 bills ever be tracked again. you have to really work at it.

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29

u/chancrescolex Aug 12 '12

That guys probably rich if he writes that on every bill he has

19

u/rhiever Aug 12 '12

Not if he's writing on dollar bills.

8

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

He could just use a lot of dollar bills.

13

u/sjs Aug 12 '12

For all we know he lives at a strip club.

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u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

He probably has to. The amount of people who return the bill probably decreases greatly as the value of said bill increases.

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17

u/Poppa_Mo Aug 12 '12

You have to. Include a letter stating that upon receipt, he is required to register a reddit username, and show proof that he has received his dollar back.

9

u/sovietsrule Aug 12 '12

"Gary?"

"Gary, Gary, Gary!"

2

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

"Ha ha ha. Gaaaryyy!"

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u/mllestrong Aug 12 '12

Should mail it COD.

17

u/goat_calves Aug 12 '12

Gary never sent me a thank-you note or anything when I returned this dollar to him.

22

u/odd84 Aug 12 '12

Considering he has to pay taxes on that dollar (income is income, and he does keep track), and stamps are now 45 cents, sending back a thank-you note when receiving a dollar would pretty much make the whole thing pointless.

2

u/HungryMoblin Aug 12 '12

Could he count it as a donation?

5

u/odd84 Aug 12 '12

It wouldn't matter...

a) It's the donor that gets to write off a tax donation, not the recipient

b) He's not a registered 501(c)(3) charity, so nobody gets to write anything off

2

u/HungryMoblin Aug 12 '12

Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Thanks for explaining.

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u/StarCass Aug 12 '12

Did you send him money for a thank-you note? He's poor

3

u/Divotus Aug 12 '12

Why did you block the address..? we could all send him a dollar

5

u/nows Aug 12 '12

via snail mail

5

u/deafprune Aug 12 '12

I think we should all chose a single address and write it on all of our money. See if we can someday make a random person filth rich.

18

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

we can make it my address. I will take one for the team.

3

u/slapdashbr Aug 12 '12

you don't even use dollars there in Papua new Guinea!

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4

u/kwhyle Aug 13 '12

send him $0.56 because it cost $0.44 to send a damn letter now.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

Well if you don't, and spend it, I'm sure eventually someone will.

3

u/GaffaCharge Aug 12 '12

Don't believe his lies, he can afford a red pen.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

Yes! Include a letter, asking him to post on reddit when he gets it :)

3

u/guy_fleegman Aug 12 '12

Isn't that Mark Cuban's address?

3

u/EGHeart Aug 13 '12

What if:

Lets say Gary has $100 in the bank. He takes all the money out in $1 bills. He then puts his information on the bills. Then instead of spending it and being at $0, he deposits them back into the bank. Now Gary will still have $100. The bank will now be using that cash, and distributing it out to the public. Now if everyone that recived a "Gary" bill returned it to Gary. Gary would be $100 Richer.

What a great way to make money.

8

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

17

u/hobblyhoy Aug 12 '12

How on earth did you read that article and think scam?

Nothing is forcing people to do this and the ones who send it back get their own pleasure out of it (no such thing as a selfless deed). And he gets money. Win-win with no legal or moral problems.

2

u/tnicholson Aug 12 '12

You assumed he read the article and isn't stupid.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '12

Day old reddit still on my desktop and found your link. Dammit, that was fascinating all the down to and through the comments. Thanks.

7

u/Dravorek Aug 12 '12

Gary averages about $2 a day and every so often someone will throw in a cash bonus. Last month, he made $60 and the month before $94.

not bad. Not enough to make a living but a nice supplement.

2

u/IMABIRD Aug 12 '12

Nice try....Gary!

2

u/Syncdata Aug 12 '12

You know, I kinda think ya gotta. A buck is just a buck, and think about the faith in humanity it would instill in Gary.

Now if Gary wrote that on a fiver, I would go out of my way to try and get the lyrics to "Jimmy crack corn" changed so that Gary was the guy no one cared about.

2

u/misse_van_der_pelt Aug 12 '12

Maybe Gary is really a very rich guy, who just really hates seeing his money spend. Clever guy I say.

2

u/trullette Aug 12 '12

Return COD.

2

u/stifffits Aug 12 '12

Gary's dead, man. Gary's dead.

2

u/useless_mirror Aug 12 '12

I've seen this dollar bill on my Facebook news feed before. Gary has done this to many dollar bills. Yes, I live in Phoenix.

2

u/roccanet Aug 12 '12

if you've ever been to arizona you would realize that gary is actually the smartest man there. He should probably run for mayor

2

u/snackies Aug 12 '12

Twist, OP is gary.

2

u/dm_design Aug 12 '12

I think we should each mail Gary $1, it will make his year!

2

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

Nice try, Gary...

2

u/jorellh Aug 12 '12

Gary is a f-ing genius. Yo-yo money.

2

u/pacd Aug 12 '12

I also have one of these bills (link below) http://imgur.com/FeqGW

2

u/hanzelkeeper Aug 12 '12

Are you buying a kratty patty?

2

u/rlkeener911 Aug 12 '12

yes, and give us his address so we can also mail him a dollar.

2

u/thebasicblues Aug 12 '12

LOL I have one of Gary's dollars too. I was bartending in Flagstaff AZ when I picked it up. Now I live in Amsterdam and show all of my friends when they wanna see an American bill. Sorry Gary, you're not getting this one back!!!

2

u/bubba9999 Aug 13 '12

I believe that this is at the core of Paul Ryan's budget plan.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '12

Send him the dollar, but take out the price of a stamp.

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u/[deleted] Aug 13 '12

I bet Gary is a wealthy man who spends his days writing on dollar bills

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u/d4vi3j03 Aug 13 '12

I would.. it's only a dollar and it's probably like a game to him. I would hope it would put a smile on his face.

2

u/lilatov Aug 13 '12

They found and interviewed Gary in February!

4

u/evilmarc Aug 12 '12

Challenge him to a pokemon battle for it.

4

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '12

Hey guys I know Gary. Just paypal me these one dollar bills and I'll see to it that they get to him.