Advice from the Loose Change Scattered Around Your House
The following transcript documents the conversation between the sticky penny that seems to be stuck to your tile, the rusty dime under the rug in front of your couch, and Junk Drawers' own interviewer, Interviewer. Here’s what they all had to say:
Penny: Hi, it’s great to be here.
Dime: Yea, I agree. I’ve never been interviewed before so forgive me if I’m a bit nervous.
Interviewer: I completely understand how you feel. When I first started interviewing inanimate objects it was scary for me and the objects I was interviewing. There was a lot of studdering from nerves on my part.
Penny: I mean I would’ve been afraid to talk to you too if I didn’t hear from my old pal Quarter that there’s this human whose been showing up, understanding and talking to things that can’t hear or talk.
Interviewer: Well, thank you both for being here. I just want to start off by asking what’s on every human’s mind. What’s it like being a coin? Do you ever wish you were another object like a smartphone or computer? Something more glitzy?
Penny: I don’t want to speak for Dime but we coins really enjoy being around each other. I love being stuck in a wallet with a good group of coins because we get to hear humans interact which is always entertaining. Once, I heard a human say that they had no money on them when a homeless woman asked them for some change and I was just thinking, “Um…well what am I then?”
Dime: Wow, yeah, I remember that day.
Penny: I’ve also heard a bunch of people talking about getting rid of pennies which scares me because that means there will be no new coins that look like me in commission, but my coin friends have been really supportive.
Dime: Even Quater and Dollar Coin came to Penny’s defense. Those coins, mostly Dollar coin, are so valued by humans they could’ve said, “Sorry Penny, you’re just not wanted”, but they didn’t. They want pennies to stay around and really support any coin, regardless of their monetary value.
Penny: And I guess to answer your question, it’s rare that you’ll find a coin that wants to be a type of technology because coins are like evergreen trees. We’re always there — through every change in the season or environment, we never die, you know? I feel like technology is more likely to come and go, but coins have been used in the United States since 1793.
Interviewer: That brings me to a great point which is, coins aren’t separated into groups based on what they look like, you know? When you look under your couch or in a drawer, every pile of loose change is made up of different looking coins. There’s no exclusivity —
Penny: Yea, exactly. No exclusivity. And I feel like that’s intentional. If I could give some advice to humans, it would be to stop placing yourself and others into groups. I mean, aren’t you all just people. I’m just as much of a coin as Dime here, regardless of what we look like or the value that’s assigned to us.
Dime: I definitely agree.
Interviewer: So, could you both elaborate a little bit on the advice that you have for humans? Like you mentioned before, Penny, coins are always in the room when people argue or in the jean pocket of a cheating spouse and I feel like you’ve really got a front seat to all of these raw human interactions. What do you wish more humans understood about themselves?
Dime: Maybe that every person is of equal value. Humans aren’t like coins where they’ve got their value etched onto them. Penny is worth 1¢ and I’m worth 5¢ and that’s not something you can change. Humans, however, aren’t like that. You can’t look at one person and think, “Oh, they’re worth more because they’re pretty or a certain race” because no person is born with any type of significant value. Not like coins at least.
Interviewer: Yeah, yeah. So you never felt like you were better than Penny? You’re literally worth more than her — sorry Penny.
Penny: No offense taken.
Dime: No way, I’m telling you. We’re not as complex as humans and don’t even have brains. People are wired to compare themselves to others as a means of survival, but oftentimes unchecked comparison turns into superiority.
Penny: That’s when it becomes dangerous for humans.
Interviewer: So, we’ve touched upon the grimness of humanity for a while now and I was wondering if there’s anything about humans that you think we do right. If you can’t think of anything, you can be honest and say we’ve got nothing going for us.
Penny: Humans are so creative and passionate and irrational and have this full spectrum of emotions that cannot be copied by any other organism or thing on the planet. People are so mysterious and fantastic. That’s their bane to existence and their greatest gift.
Interviewer: Thank you both for coming out and speaking with me. It’s really an honor to have a conversation with legendary objects of United States history such as yourself so thank you again for joining me.
Penny: No, you’re very welcome.
Dime: Yea, this was a great interview.
Penny: Would you mind picking us up from the ground and putting us on a countertop or something?
Interviewer: Oh, yea, of course.
