The Wallet

By TesubCalle

I keep my life in my wallet.

Everything I need is in there: my personal banking card, ID cards (including a driver’s license, birth certificate, health insurance card and social insurance card), credit card, library card, prayer cards, and numerous business cards, including my own.

I’ve probably got some of those ‘frequent client’ cards for coffee places and such, but I never seem to get all those holes punched to get my ‘one free coffee’, so those tend to get lost in the shuffle.

Of course, I have a few bills in the billfold, even if they’re usually in the lower denominations more often than not. There’s a small amount of coin in the little pouch designated for change, too, though I tend to empty that on a regular basis because too many pennies weigh down the wallet unnecessarily.

Hidden away in a secret compartment in the wallet is a spare house key in case I ever misplace my key chain, which actually has more key chain knick-knacks than keys.

I keep a steady supply of my own business cards with me in the wallet at all times, identifying me as Simone Copeland: Fine Artist and Interior/Exterior Designer, with the pertinent contact information: office address, phone, fax, e-mail (reach me anytime). I specialize in custom mural paintings for homes and businesses, and while I’m not exactly getting rich, I enjoy what I do immensely.

I keep waiting for that one big commission that will earn my name some measure of respect and prestige (and better commissions), but that hasn’t yet happened. Maybe one day I’ll be featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, where my skills will dazzle some forlorn homeowners with my fabulous ‘before and after’ treatment of their home’s drab walls. That’s why every opportunity I get, I pass out my business card. Home & Garden trade shows are some of my favourite haunts.

While it’s not like the items in my wallet are irreplaceable, the fact is that they are my anchor to the real world on a daily basis. Not a day goes by that I’m not shoving more of my personalized business cards into the wallet (I really do hand them out by the dozens on any given week).

Not a day goes by that I’m not pulling out the laminated prayer cards of Blessed Fra Angelico, St. Catherine of Bologna, and St. Luke, all patron saints of artists (among many others, I’m sure). I’m usually begging for their intercession and guidance with some huge project I’m undertaking, or some huge project I only wish I could, should I be so lucky as to land the contract or commission.

The credit card, of course, gets a lot of usage as well. I’m on a first-name basis with the staff in the paint department at the local Home Depot.

To a degree, I suppose I worry that it would be easy for someone to steal my identity if a person of devious mind got a hold of the contents of my wallet. After all, everything they would need is there. Should my credit card ever be compromised, though, the thief would be in for a rude awakening as my credit limit is pretty low. They’d probably get a ‘DECLINED’ notification if they tried to put any charge through. In fact, I might even encourage them to keep it if they want a credit card so desperately. I do generally tend to carry a (large) balance, and the rate of interest I pay is abysmal and absurdly high.

But seriously, there are things in the wallet I ought to keep in a safer place. The trouble is you never know when you’re going to need more than one or two pieces of ID – it’s an unpleasant fact in this society of ours that’s obsessed with security. You can’t go anywhere or do anything in today’s world without some kind of ‘proof’ that you are who you say you are.

We’ve all heard horror stories of identity theft, coupled with unauthorized bank account take-overs, where the victim has been cleaned out of his or her life savings. In the worst-case scenario, if someone stole my wallet, that person could assume my identity and use it to pull off a number of crimes that would lead right back to me. I guess I fear being accused and convicted of things I have not done. I’m a huge Alfred Hitchcock fan, and apparently the great director himself had this same fear: being locked up for a crime he didn’t commit. Movies he made like Dial ‘M’ for Murder, I Confess, and The Wrong Man are brilliant examples of this theme.

While I don’t think it’s likely I’ll ever be accused of a crime I have not committed, the truth is that innocent people are victimized all the time. The innocent suffer, and evil deeds go unpunished. There are times when I want to believe in ‘ “Vengeance is Mine,” says the Lord’, but my faith fails me in that regard when all over the news there are reports of continued injustices from all corners of the world.

Perhaps worrying about the contents of a wallet is shallow when compared to other people’s woes. My own woes are inconsequential in the long run, and I can only pray they stay that way.

But sometimes, I just can't help but think that if I happened to lose my wallet, it would be the death of me.