Where's George?

Or Abe, as the case may be ...

I bought a green tea at Starbucks the other day -- green tea ... NOT coffee ... I'm still being faithful. I  received a five dollar bill back in change.  As I was returning the bill to my wallet: I noticed a strange stamp, of purple writing, upon the face of bill.  The stamp read, "http://www.wheresgeorge.com/."  That's odd I thought to myself?

So out of curiousity, I flipped the bill over to see what -- if anything -- was on the other side?  To my surprise, handwritten on the back of the bill, in small print, were the words: "Please report sightings of this bill at www.wheresgeorge.com Thanks!"

Needless to say, I was intrigued; however, I wasn't able to log on-line to check out this odd request for a 'report of sightings' of my bill until the following day. When I did log onto the website, I found an entire website dedicated to tracking the journey of not just my lone bill, but hundreds, of thousands, of bills?! I was surprised! This is a national project ... not just a random website put up by one creative individual to track a single bill.

Anyway, I dutifully logged in the serial number and issue year of my bill. Then, I entered a status report of the bill. To my (somewhat) disappointment, my bill had only traveled 13 miles from its point of origin ... although, it appears to have had a spin in someone's laundry washing machine. : ) I will be going 'home' soon, so I may just hold onto my wandering $5 bill and help 'Abe' further along on his quest to cover ever greater distances and explore new lands.  With my trip home, I'll add at least another 2,400 miles to his journey.  That should put him well on his way to becoming a seasoned traveler. Then, I'll log back into the tracking website, from time to time, to see where my serial number 'Abe' winds up next.  Should be fun to keep tabs on his adventures ...

I have to admit, this is a novel concept. Kudos to whoever thought of it first! Might also be a great way to get kids interested in U.S. geography and other related facts. Just a thought ...
Check it out for yourself and see:  http://www.wheresgeorge.com/.

I guess some people really get into this? They go the bank and request entire stacks of new issue bills? Wow?! To each his own ... I'll just have fun seeing where the $5 bill that found its way to me winds up next.  Happy travels Abe ...