Coin Sleeves

An epic journey for a few cents.

For the last while, I’ve had bills and coins littering random drawers in my room. I don’t have much use for these, and I would prefer to be rid of the physical currency. The bank was about five minutes away, so I figured I’d drive over there and deposit the coins and cash. But first, I needed to make sure the money was organized.

“Hey Dad,” I called out on a recent Saturday. “Do we have any of those coin sleeves?”

The most efficient way to deposit coins at the bank was to organize each type of coin in a sleeve which held up to a designated amount of money. I would have to simply walk into the bank and give the change to the teller, who would add it to my account.

We didn’t have any coin sleeves, so Dad told me to run to the dollar tree to pick some up.

“You’ll want to do that soon, though,” Dad said. “The bank closes at noon.”

I looked at my watch. It was eleven.

***

Walking into the Dollar Tree, I wondered where the sleeves might be. After circling the small store multiple times, a tired cashier pointed me over to the stationary aisle. It wasn’t there. I texted Dad, who suggested I go to Walmart.

Thankfully, Walmart was right next to the Dollar Tree, but I re-parked the van in a more convenient location. Noon was approaching fast. Dropping a dollar coin into the Salvation Army bucket, I ran inside. The coin sleeves were hidden in the corner of the store, which I located with some difficulty. Slightly out of breath, I reached the car.

Then Dad texted. He needed a few boxes of hydration packets, and it was important. Aisle A20. I paused for a minute to contemplate the next course of action. Taking a breath, I tossed the sleeves into the car, and raced through the parking lot towards the store entrance. Slowing to a purposeful stride, I made my way to aisle A20. After a minute of staring at hundreds of cereal boxes in confusion, I saw I was in aisle A19. Fixing my mistake, I found the packets and ran out.

Pulling onto Heckle Boulevard, my watch informed me there were thirty minutes until the deadline. This was going to be a close one.

When I got home, I quickly turned the car off, jumped out, and made a dash for the money. I still had to count and organize all my coins into the appropriate sleeves. Double-checking and trading quarters for dimes with my sister, Isabel, everything was finally ready to go by 11:45. Getting back into the car, I tossed the coins onto the passenger seat. After hitting multiple red lights, and making at least four wrong turns, I managed to pull into the bank seven minutes before noon. There wasn’t a parked car in sight, but I was still hopeful. Exiting the car with great expedience, I darted over to the front door. It was locked. That’s when I noticed a sign, saying that the hours had changed. The bank was closed for the whole of the weekend.