I suppose I could call it kainolophobia – the fear of anything new or novel – or perhaps even neophobia – also defined as the fear of new things. Maybe I’m a prosophobic and I fear progress, or I’m suffering from metathesiophobia and I fear change itself.
At this point, I could care less ... I’m simply tired of carrying around a wallet that comes complete with its own growing assortment of plastic, rectangular accruements.
Wondering what in God’s creation I’m talking about? Well, I’ll tell you ... it’s all these credit card-like, money saving, store membership cards that have become so popular over the last decade.
My only question is why? Why is it necessary to carry a card for each and every place of business one might visit throughout one’s entire lifetime? It just doesn’t make sense. Because nowadays, it doesn’t stop at credit cards or debit cards, does it?
No, in this and age one must have with them at all times, not only the aforementioned debit and/or credit card(s), but also a card for every drug, grocery, video, home improvement and clothing store; every gas station and pizza place (or other restaurant), not to mention every form of identification imaginable (driver’s license, Social Security card, college ID and so on).
It seems the world has gone card crazy and – personally – I’m running out of room (and patience).
I used to have four such cards in my wallet, which included my library card, no less. Now, I have close to 15, and that’s only because I refuse to accumulate any more, unlike many people. Which is a good thing, because squeezing any more of the cursed things in my wallet wouldn’t leave much room for anything else ... say cash, for instance.
What can I say? In my 30-plus years that’s all I ever really kept in there, not that it’s ever held a generous supply. Now, however, it’s a different story. Just walking into the gas station to fill up the tank (pre-pay, no less, don’t get me started) and – you guessed it – I’m asked for my personal membership card. Which means, of course, I have to dig through all the other cards in my possession, ultimately watching in disbelief as (once again) my entire wallet decides to empty itself onto the floor.
Been there, done that.
