I once asked Nob Mouse about currency. I was interested in how Blobland managed to survive without a true currency of any sort.
‘What’s a currency?’ asked Nob. ‘It sounds like some kind of raisin.’
‘You’re thinking about currants, aren’t you?’ I said.
‘Yes. That’s right, isn’t it? You give one-another currants in exchange for what you want, and you don’t get it until you show you’ve got the goods? Hence ‘currant-see’.’
‘No, not quite. The idea is there, but the material is different.’
‘I did wonder about that, yes,’ said Nob. ‘I was going to ask you about how you kept the money fresh.’
‘You’d dry it, I suppose,’ said I. I admit I was getting a little side tracked. ‘What I was meaning to ask is whether you use anything like that here?’
Nob shook his head. ‘Nah. It’s too much effort. Favours are better. I give Zigg a pie because I know that if I need a lift anywhere, he’ll take me in his car. I don’t need a currant to remind me of that.’
‘And that works?’
‘Yes. Doesn’t it work for you?’ he asked. He seemed surprised at first, but then realisation dawned. ‘Oh, of course it won’t. There are too many of you, aren’t there? You’d all forget who owed what to whom.’
Sipping his tea, he smiled and looked self-assured. ‘You probably need all those currants to keep track of everything. I’d just use a piece of paper though. Easier to write the names and things on.’
