Conspicuous Consumption

A little humor in your day, courtesy of Newsday and the AP. Newsday.com: Police: Woman Tried to Pass Fake $1M Bill: "Associated Press March 9, 2004, 10:40 AM EST COVINGTON, Ga. -- A woman was caught trying to use a fake $1 million bill to buy $1,675 worth of merchandise at a Wal-Mart, and was later found with two more of the bills in her purse, police said. The United States Treasury does not make $1 million bills, but people can buy souvenirs of such a bill at some stores, police said. 'It looks real, but of course there's nothing real about this,' Covington Police Chief Stacey Cotton said Tuesday. 'People do crazy things all the time. I think it's just another example of some odd things that occur.' A clerk at the store immediately noticed the bill was fake when 35-year-old Alice Regina Pike handed it to her on Friday, Cotton said. Pike then tried to use two gift cards with only $2.32 of value on them to buy the merchandise, but when that didn't work she again asked if the clerk could cash the $1 million bill, Cotton said. The store then called police. "