For Someone Else to Solve - Nov 28 2023

 

For Someone Else to Solve

Nov 28 2023

Emptying out the change

that bulged in my wallet

and weighed down my pocket,

I asked the cashier

to convert it into bills.

She sighed

and looked annoyed,

as if I'd asked her to empty the till

and hand it over.

Paper money,

except that these days

it's plastic.

Which means

when the end of the world comes

the bills will long outlast us,

indestructible

in the thin geologic layer

that will contain the history

of our brief existence here.

They say you can't take it with you

glory is fleeting

memory short.

All true.

Forget fame and fortune,

they're meaningless.

And even plastic money's transient;

its value a fiction,

based on tacit agreement

and social trust.

But the cashier

couldn’t care less

about a strict gold standard,

or wheelbarrows full

of paper currency;

all business

she simply corralled the coins

and scooped them into the till.

2 crisp 5s, and a couple of 1s

to complete the transaction.

I already felt lighter.

And since we're all still here,

preoccupied with daily lives

and our own personal troubles,

the end of the world

is better left

for someone else to solve.

After all, money

that's still worth something

is burning a hole in my pocket

    . . . so, what on earth to buy?