But That's Just My 20, 174 Cents
Today we learned that carrying 200 dollars worth of coins is not fun. Specifically when a good 90 % of that 200 bucks is pennies. At some point maybe we wanted to collect those coins and we even bought penny wrappers. Then we went ahead and lost the penny wrappers for two years, and then today realized that those were at the bottom of a bag full of 700 more freaking pennies.
Backpacks have gotten more expensive lately. At least if the straps of this bag break from the weight of 5 jars of pennies I might have enough pennies to buy another one. Although, another fun fact we learned today is that one can overfill a coin-exchange machine. So, I may be stuck paying for that new bag in a form most Nordstroms won’t accept - in pennies.
And yet, I’m glad I did this. You see, this morning, I had a counter obstructed by five metal tea-caddies and a leaky travel mug, each filled with heaps of coins covered in grime, dust, cocaine (according to the back of a Snapple cap, of course,) and honestly god knows what else. Tomorrow, I’ll have two hundred dollars. Also known as enough money to buy half a college textbook. We all know that leaving coins unused, in a form in which we cannot utilize them and in which they simply take up space no New Yorker has is irrational. If we cannot use this currency to fulfill our needs, invest in our future, or to add to our lives things we deem to have value, then it’s simply 40 pounds’ worth of ever decreasing value.
That’s the thing with change, whether it’s in a jam jar on our shelf, in the bottoms of our backpacks, or happening in our real lives. It’s annoying. No one ever wants to deal with it. We never seem to get around to doing the, honestly, fairly simple task required to address it. And yet, change that isn’t deal with slows us down. It jangles in our pockets and bags, flows out of that mug our accountant gave us onto our bookshelves, and makes us live our lives with more anxiety and hesitation than is necessary.
The change in our lives has inherent value. We can use it to get things that serve a purpose and bring us joy. We can use change as an opportunity to invest in our futures and put just a little bit toward a big dream. But, until we address it, it sucks up our resources, energy, creativity, and kitchen counter space that we pay for by the square inch. That could instead hold that daily latte we’re not supposed to buy.
I know we all wish we could avoid change - both in coin and life-event form. But, I honestly don’t think I’d want to live in a world without it. If I’m going out to buy a book that costs $9.50 with a ten dollar bill, I’ll be pretty upset if I don’t leave with some change. In the same way, if I’m going to perform a task, take a trip, learn about something, or meet a new person, I want it to invite some change into my life.
We all have a jar of coins in our apartments. We also all have that “thing” in our lives that’s a nagging, depreciating depletion of energy, time and peace of mind - our “real life” equivalent to a yogurt container filled with nickels. The nearest Coinstar is probably less than ten blocks away. The “thing” you need to do will probably take less than ten minutes. Let’s all deal with our change - maybe we’ll clear up some space for something better. Maybe we’ll drop 5 pounds. Maybe we’ll get a little closer to affording a longtime dream. Couldn’t hurt.
