The World Costs 10¢

I have a suspicion that when you read this title you thought I was crazy and I don’t blame you. I would have thought the same thing too but I have proof that it’s true! Before we get into that though, I’ve done a little research to see what 10¢ is actually worth. 

To start off, I went back 100 years and researched what a person could get for 10¢ in the 1920s.

5 lbs of cabbage	10¢
5 postage stamps	10¢
5 lbs of watermelon	10¢
5 lbs of prunes	10¢
2 cups of coffee	10¢
2 subway tickets	10¢
1.66 lbs of potatoes	10¢
1.4 lbs of cornmeal	10¢
1.25 lbs of macaroni	10¢
1 lb of bread	10¢
1 frying pan	10¢

There were quite a few items one could buy. Fast forward to the 1950s and the list diminishes. 

2 cups of coffee	10¢
2 boxes of Jiffy Mix	10¢
1.66 lbs of cabbage	10¢
1 subway ticket	10¢
1 jar of Gerber Baby Food	10¢
1 comic book	10¢

Now, it’s 2023 and 10¢ just isn’t worth much other than to purchase one paper or plastic bag to place your groceries in at the store. Now the main job of 10¢ is to get lost in couches or chairs and make noise when it runs though the washer and dryer! However, the other day 10¢ ended up meaning the world to me. 

With all of my health issues, house issues, etc., I have days where I fall apart. I let go, have myself a good cry, and have the ‘woe is me’ pity party. Then I pick myself up and keep moving forward with a smile on my face. I liken that to a dam. Instead of water being held back, for me it’s emotions. For a long time I’m fine. I can laugh, smile, and even have little sad moments from time to time, but the dam holds tight. However, there comes a time when a little hole appears in the wall of the dam and it starts leaking. When those days happen I get a mental image in my mind of what goes on. Picture this, there are squirrels dressed in overalls and hardhats sitting in the break room by the dam, eating acorns, playing card games, and laughing at what dogs they’ve teased the previous day. All of a sudden alarms start blaring and red lights are appearing  everywhere because the emotions has busted a hole in the dam. The squirrels jump up, start scurrying in their chaotic way to fix the hole. Before they can even get to the original hole to fix it, another hole, and another, and another appears. The squirrels are in a frenzy trying to patch all the holes but to no avail as the emotions busts the dam wide open. 

I’m sure you have felt something similar. A saying that embodies this feeling is, “It’s the straw that broke the camel’s back.” It may not be a big thing that gets to you but it is the final straw. For me that straw could be a day filled with aches and pains. Normally it’s not a big deal and I can handle those aches just fine but some days it’s the ‘one thing’ that is just the ‘one thing’ too many. The problem is I don’t get to choose those days when it happens. Unfortunately, this happened the other day when I had to be out and about for an appointment. I struggled but got through the appointment and decided to go pick up some other things I needed while I was out. I picked up a couple of items and headed to the register. After the cashier rung up my purchases and coupons the final total was 10¢. I absently patted my pockets and said, “Man, I wish I had 10¢.” My cashier patted his pockets and told me if he had the dime he would have given it to me. I thanked him and went to get my wallet out to pay with a dollar bill. Before I could pull out my wallet another cashier, who was helping a different customer, said, “I do,” and directed my cashier where to find her bag so she could give me the 10¢. I thanked her and told her I had a dollar. She told me not to worry about it and paid for my items.  

Meghan, you didn’t know how hard that day was for me. You didn’t know all the tears I had shed before I walked up to the counter. You couldn’t see the clouds that were in my soul. Thank you for providing a beautiful ray of sunshine into my weary soul that day. To everyone else in the store, they saw you perform a small act of kindness but to me it was truly a large act of kindness. The face value of the dime you gave was only 10¢, but to me the true value of that dime meant the world because of how your kindness made me feel!

And that, my friends, is why the world costs 10¢.

Keeping the perspective,
Lauren