On Wed, 27 Dec 2006 15:05:45 -0600, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>In article >,
> "The Ranger" > wrote:
>
>> Goomba38 > wrote in message
>> . ..
>> > "Superstitions?"
>> > Of course there is the well known the "Never give a
>> > knife or scissors as a gift or you'll cut the friendship"
>> > ...and we always paid a penny (often provided) for
>> > that type of gift.
>>
>> I've never heard of this one... And my Sainted Mother(tm) knew a lot
>> of them... What's the penny signify?
>
>That it was not a gift. The recipient has to give the giver money --
>that makes it a purchase. Can't get much smaller than a penny.
>
I just did exactly that with my daughter. I gave her a couple of nice
little santoku knives for Christmas and demanded a penny to preserve
our bond. I believe it worked.
--

modom

http://www.koyote.com/users/modom/home.html