6 AUG 06: PENNIES SAVED

"So do you think it's OK to say 'Happy Holiday?'" I asked a couple at church Saturday. When you're in a denomination which doesn't keep Halloween, Easter, Christmas and Valentine's Day, you learn to be careful with your words.

"What holiday?" the couple was puzzled for a moment.

"The sales tax holiday," I reminded them. "Or is it wrong, because people are worshiping the Almighty Dollar?"

The wife in this couple admitted she went shopping for tax-free items Thursday, "to beat the crowds." The crowds seemed to show up at stores in both Alabama and Georgia Friday afternoon and Saturday. And with the sales tax holiday ending today, Peachtree Mall may have more tour buses from Florida than ever before.

I also did a little tax-free shopping Thursday, and found Peachtree Mall not very crowded at all. But I went in the early afternoon, when the biggest crowd is likely to be waiting for chalupas at Taco Bell....

Some Peachtree Mall stores seemed desperate to make sales during the sales tax holiday. One man at Foot Locker practically stepped over the threshold into the mall, saying something to a group which walked by in front of me.

"Did you say there's a sale?" At least I stopped to pay the young man some attention.

"There's a 20-percent discount for military personnel," said another Foot Locker employee. The man who made the offer had turned back into the store, so apparently my money wasn't good enough for him.

(I honestly thought the young salesman was trying to persuade the women with the "Benning boys" into the store. Perhaps he's not familiar with post-traumatic stress disorder....)

Since I'm not going back to school and have no children, I was at the mall merely looking for a couple of items to buy tax-free. I wound up spending $2.99 on a pair of khaki-green socks at Eddie Bauer -- and no military men were in that store at all, taking advantage of that.

Did you realize there's a worldwide shortage of maroon/burgundy socks right now? That's the color I've been after for months, and no store at Peachtree Mall seems to have it. In fact, no store in Columbus seems to have it - and I refuse to bleed on a pair of brown socks, to get the same result.

Other people had bigger goals for the sales tax holiday. A group of teachers went shopping with Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue at the Columbus Office Depot, using $100 gift cards provided by the state. How many of them wished the Governor would dip into the millions of dollars in his reelection fund, and buy them a little bit more?

Did you see the front-page headline in Saturday's Ledger-Enquirer about the shopping trip? "TEACHERS APPRECIATE $100." I mean, really now - is there anyone in Columbus who would NOT appreciate $100? Well, other that a top executive with AFLAC....

The four-day sales tax holiday will cost the state of Georgia an estimated ten to 12 million dollars. Yet State Senator Seth Harp told WRBL you shouldn't worry about it, because the state will recoup the money in other areas. You DID notice Friday's six-cent jump in Columbus gas prices, didn't you?

But some families can't afford school supplies, even with sales taxes suspended. For them, Saturday was a time to pick up free "Kits for Kids" with donated supplies from Mission Columbus on Buena Vista Road. Apparently employers don't hand out free pens and pencils at job fairs, the way they once did.

LOOK OUT BELOW FOR MORE....

Power Frisbee will be in metro Atlanta and Macon today for a "Free Frisbee Sunday" -- then Columbus and LaGrange get their turns next Sunday, August 13. Learn all about this new game (and hear our NEW test commercial) at the official Power Frisbee of Georgia web site; then offer your comments at the P.F.G. blog.

E-MAIL UPDATE: Now to the "major dilemma" in the Muscogee County Sheriff's Department, which seems to have the Government Center buzzing:

I can't believe that four people are going to claim that because their title was changed they deserve more pay for the same job that they do now. These city employees received a new title so that all of the department heads in Columbus have the same meaning.

The city was stupid to implement this name change at a time like this. And it gripes me that they are not taking on any more job duties or responsiblities but feel that they deserve more money. Noone was really happy to be at 92% of the market but they aren't hunting for a way to get more money. For a promotion to have taken place that would mean that someone will fill the "Captain" positions, but that is not the case. Those positions evaporated basically. We do not need 4 more people doing the same jobs as these new "majors".

I watched all of the council meetings and never once heard about this name change and what came with it. And it seems to have affected 13 other employees that have to be considered.

The city needs to just change the "titles" back to what they were and be done with it.

Thanks!!!

But aren't there other workplaces where a change of title means extra money? I assume that's the difference between an ordinary employee at Subway, and a "Sandwich Artist."

(Some of us are old enough to remember TV crime dramas, where the phrase "the names have been changed" referred to crime victims instead of law officers....)

As for city employees being "at 92 percent of the market," as determined by the University of Georgia pay study - I think other staff members still are "hunting for a way to get more money." At least, I haven't heard of Cascade Hills Church hiring its own security staff.

We'll probably hear more about this topic (especially in light of this e-mail) - but now let's check other weekend headlines:

+ Which Columbus TV reporter admitted she weighs 190 pounds - on the air, during the 6:00 news? So much for those of you who think reporters don't tell the whole story - as well as those of you who think TV reporters are chosen at beauty pageants.

+ Back at church, my pastor preached against the eharmony.com web site, suggesting God does NOT provide mates through online dating services. If you're a Christian woman who met your husband through this site: 1) repent, 2) get an annulment, and 3) call me - because maybe God provides through random phone calls.

+ Port Columbus began a fund-raising campaign to build a Civil War era replica ship along Victory Drive. Is this really a good idea? How many tipsy drivers heading home to Phenix City from dance clubs will panic at the sight of this?

+ A dump truck loaded with several tons of rocks tipped over at Veterans Parkway and Alexander, crushing an SUV. Yet the SUV driver was able to walk away from the wreckage - and hopefully right into a nice endorsement deal with a local body shop.

+ Pop singer B.J. Thomas performed before a good crowd at the Phenix City Amphitheater. I went jogging downtown on the Columbus Riverwalk as he sang "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and - well, go back to the eharmony joke.

+ The Columbus Northern Little League team began regional play by whipping West Virginia's entry 16-0. The Northerners scored ten runs in the top of the first inning - ending my question about what had happened to all those Atlanta relief pitchers.

+ Instant Message to Alabama bobsledder Vonetta Flowers: Since you're still appearing on McDonald's sacks six months after the Winter Olympics saying, "I'm faster than any woman alive" - have you met Danica Patrick?

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