one of my ex-business parters had, once upon a time, installed network-based security systems back in the early 90's down in virginia. he relished telling the story of the score he didn't make. apparently, one of the clients for the company he worked for was a storage facility for a shipping company that was subcontracting to the department of the treasury. they were installing this state-of-the-art security system because, apparently, this secluded warehouse complex was where the treasury department was storing bills and coins on the way to be destroyed. well, joe and his coworker are up on a rolling ladder, setting up motion sensors, when a bunch of guys with forklifts start loading the space. they were supposed to wait until the install of the security system was finished, but someone cocked up the schedule, and they began loading pallets full of plastic-tension sealed bills in little green cubes into the warehouse.

as two bozos were fifty feet above, installing the security system.

joe swore he always regretted not at least breaking into one of those pallets. i always joked that he was such a loser he would probably hit a stack of singles.

either way, it was one of the more interesting "what is the most amount of money have you ever seen at one time/place?" stories i ever heard.

the point of this missive, of course, has nothing to do with money, just the scarcity of seeing lots of it in one place. there is this old joke about a million dollars and faith:

"Do you believe in [insert deity name]?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I've never seen [deity name], so why should I believe in him/her/it/them?"

"Have you ever seen a million dollars?"

"No."

"Then how do you know it exists, if you've never seen it?"

[insert revelation and damnation or salvation, depending which invisible man you believe in]

lame, for sure, but, poignant. today i saw something that is part of my rolling repertoire, but that i have never actually seen before.

a bus load of nuns.

no shit, as i was coming in to work, there was an entire bus loaded with korean nuns discharging passengers. i was so wrapped up in the moment, i didn't even think to snap a pic. by then, they had dissolved into mist and turned into wolves/bats, as nuns are wont to do.

but yeah, have you ever seen a bus load of nuns, or a million dollars?