Change Has Changed

It happened so slowly that I didn’t notice

My coin purse and all its booty

I found a quarter on my morning walk the other day. I stared at it for a moment before deciding to pick it up.

Quarters, after all, weren’t of much value anymore.

But I do have a change purse where I store the meager amount of loose change that comes my way. I used to have all kinds of change to add to the purse, but lately, it’s just been bottle return money. Even that, though, has changed. The bottle depot now gives a card with the amount loaded onto it. I’m to go to the machine and scan the card to have the money directly deposited into my account instead of receiving cash if I want.

I’d wait until I had a fair number of coins in there, then I’d go to the grocery store and use them at the self-checkout. Any balance owing after I’d dropped the coins in could be paid with debit.

I tucked the quarter in the change purse and went to have a shower. There, in the suds, I realized that self-checkouts don’t take cash anymore. They transitioned away from cash not too long ago. I’d have to go through a till, which seemed like a hassle when there were only a few dollars in change to hand over.

This move to a cashless society has happened so slowly that I didn’t notice it was happening.