Loose Change

I'm bragging a bit but I made that card. Ev had a birthday recently and the old coin cards popped into my head.  I don't know if they still make these or not. It was a last minute thing so I just made a quick one of my own.

It's funny how, of all the birthdays, parties, cards, cakes, ice cream, and gifts, the item I remember most from being a kid and having a birthday are these coin cards. Did you ever get these? Do you remember ever squeezing an envelope between your fingers and thumb, trying to feel if there was a coin card inside? Would it be pennies, nickels or dimes? Would it be a dime for every year? 5 cents for a Hershey bar made a 60 cent card a real treasure.

Change is a commodity that is rapidly disappearing. On that rare occasion that I use cash it seems the change I receive back gets relegated to riding around in the cup-holder of my car or sitting on a kitchen counter. It's a phenomenon that must be more widespread then just my life, though. Look at your keyboard: My big Royal desktop typewriter from the 1940's has a cent symbol among it's many characters. This little modern Mac has none.

In as much as we don't let Ev get within a quarter mile of a candy machine, he has little use for loose change. He does, however, have a growing collection of well-stuffed piggy banks and even got a new one this year for his birthday. He's become quite efficient and helpful when it comes to keeping cup-holders and counters cleared of loose pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. I don't know that he has any concept of ever using any of that change he's collecting but he's definitely got quite a bit of dough stashed away.

Hmm. Saving money. What a smartypants.