Ok, Happy New Year. But instead, the 100-billion-dollar story. More than we have sent to the Ukraine, more than the biggest Powerball jackpot ever by one hundred etc,etc. That is the number of unused gift cards this year. THIS YEAR. Is it possible? It is. Think about it. How many have you let expire? How many do you regift? I did a search to find out if I was among the unwashed. I am. My better half opened my sock drawer which is where I guess I stashed them. Four cards from restaurants which are no longer in business. Two from retail shops that cater to the under 25 crowd. Didn't see that one coming. One from a Sushi restaurant. ( no explanation needed.) One from a tennis shop. No thank you. Two for a free massage. Still debating. Three from stores in Houston. I do not drive Interstate Ten any longer. One from Walmart. (No explanation needed.) I didn't check the expirations on massage, under 25, Sushi, Walmart and one I have never heard of. I got the message loud and clear. Like most folks, I forgot, was not interested or was more concerned about new socks. We could rebuild every road in America with that much cash. We could send every kid to college. We could build a wall to protect whatever it is we are now not protecting. That's more than the economy of fifty small nations. Thats 500 times the value of Andorra, the world's smallest nation That is almost as much as Joe Biden's proposed new budget.
Visa loves it. All credit companies love it. How are so many stores going out of business when they are getting money for no inventory?? This year I gave gas cards. Let's see how that works.