Wallets tell a story. It’s like a tiny biography, which is why it’s so traumatizing to lose it. As evidence, here’s the current contents of my wallet:

• Various membership and credit cards.

• An Oregon driver’s license even though I don’t live there anymore.

• An NYC metro card.

• A student ID I’ve been using for discounts years past graduation.

• Twelve dollars.

• A fortune cookie fortune that says “Friends are more valuable than money.”

• A picture of a cat.

See what I mean? Most of that stuff is nigh irreplaceable. Where in the hell can anyone get twelve dollars.

wes