So, what is in your wallet?

To the editor:

It appears the $1.9 trillion relief package will soon be on America’s doorsteps.

The physical makeup of this amount in dollars is not only somewhat impressive but rather astonishing if one considers the attributes of such a staggering volume. 

A series of select numbers involving 1.9 trillion one-dollar bills is almost beyond comprehension.

Laid at our feet, it would spread a very expensive carpet just short of 8,000 square miles, equal to twice the area of Rhode Island and Delaware. If stacked like bricks, the column would exceed 132 thousand miles. Laid end to end they would stretch over 192 million miles. At 480 bills per pound, the total weight would reach a staggering two million tons. (Grab your calculator and you can verify this declaration.)

Distributing these greenbacks at ground level instead of electronically would require the services of 88,000 long haul trucks — referred to as tractor trailers in northeastern states, 18 wheelers in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi and semis the remainder of the country — at 25 tons per load.

To the Secretary of the Treasury, thank you for releasing the stimulus funds but I’m curious, has Capital One ever asked just how much is really in your wallet?

Respectfully,

Roy L. Leverich

Portland