Today I took a tour of caverns near my home. It is always fun to see the incredible formations underground, I love it! The tour guide had to remind everyone how important it is to not touch anything and not to drop any trash or throw coins in the subterranean streams and pools. "They are not wishing wells," she said firmly, "your wish won't come true." I reflected on how stupid tourists have dropped SO MANY COINS in natural pools and springs all over the world. Those coins have permanently altered and even destroyed natural beauty. In Yellowstone park, coins have diminished the once vibrant colors of Morning Glory Pool. At Carlsbad Caverns, rangers frequently unearth a variety of garbage including many coins tossed in the underground pools "for luck." Repeated warnings about how bad this is for the environment seem to fall on deaf ears. So here's an idea; let's spread a new mythos around tossing coins into water. Everyone has heard of wishing wells, but what about cursing wells? If you throw a coin into a cursing well (or a cursed well? That sounds a bit better) your wishes will NEVER COME TRUE! Not only that, but you have brought a curse upon yourself that will increase your misfortunes. Let's say you threw a coin into a cursed well (you know, like a natural body of water, ESPECIALLY those found under the ground or those that are thermogeologic (sp?) and as you toss that coin you wish that the object of your affection will fall in love with you. But the cursed well ensures that not only will she/he/they never love you, it also causes you to burp loudly every time you enter the room they are in. If you wish to be rich, not only will the cursed well prevent you from ever attaining wealth, it will also destroy your credit rating and make you ineligible for any sort of loan forgiveness. Throwing coins into a cursed well will destroy you. The havoc wreaked upon the environment by the coins will be nothing compared to the utter destruction it will cause you! You will never recover. Your life will always carry the stain of that fateful coin. If we can get every scout troop to tell these kinds of horror stories around the campfire, every slumber party to repeat them in every rec room, every corner of the interwebs to echo "completely TRUE" examples of people's lives being ruined because they threw a coin into a cursed well, maybe we can get this harmful and mindless habit to stop. Before you throw a coin into any body of water, I want you to hesitate and feel just a bit of trepidation over whether this is a wishing well or a cursed well.
