In front of me sits a roll of pennies; a brown cylinder with red striped ends. I need a few more to fill the fifty-cent roll. But what’s the purpose behind these empty rolls? I don’t handle enough coins to use up all the wrappers; now I’m stuck with a bag of wrappers for years to come. I refuse to throw the bag away, because at this point, the bag was worth more than the number of full rolls I’ve filled.
As I stare at the roll, I ask myself, what’s the point of these wrappers in today’s world? We have digital banking, we can send money across the world in minutes, possibly seconds now. Why did I buy coin wrappers? I only tend to keep change around because I refuse to throw money away, but I don’t have enough to fill the wrappers and much less to start filling a random container that will then lead to me filling the wrappers to take to the bank once that container is filled. When I ask myself the question of its purpose, I think of maybe three immediate answers. One, in case I ever need change when buying something. Two, in case I am ever around someone who’s less fortunate and needs it more than I do. And three, to collect until I have an acceptable amount to take to the bank that will be worth the bank teller’s and my time.
My actual problem with the wrappers is that I cannot get rid of them until the job is done. If I put them away, I’ll forget and this task will never end. I can picture it now, years down the line, I’ll open a random box and there it’ll be. I’ll end up convincing myself to throw away the empty wrappers. I’ll say that the number of years that have passed, plus the eight bucks I bought them for, have made it ok since I’ve made that amount back a thousand times over. And if I must lose eight dollars for peace of mind, that’s worth it. It’s worth having the space back, finishing that task, and not being reminded of it every time I run across them.
But I’m not there yet; I won’t throw the wrappers away today. I’m still holding on to hope that I’ll come across a jar of change that will make it all worth it in the end. I honestly could not tell you why I bought the coin wrappers in the first place. Where are all the coins I supposedly had lying around? Maybe this is just an example of overconsumption or retail therapy? Who knows? All I know is that these wrappers are annoying to look at and that I need to get rid of them.
And if all else fails, I’ll give the bag of coin wrappers to my dad; out of sight, out of mind. He has jars of coins and retirement is around the corner for him.