You know the biggest problem with modern life? If you answered the resurgence of fascism, skyrocketing inequality or climate change … you are wrong. The correct answer is mobile-payment apps.
In New York, most people I know use a payment app, such as Venmo, which lets you send money to friends as easily as sending a text. While such apps are convenient, they have also made everyone super cheap. Once upon a time, you would treat your friend and then they would treat you, and it would all work out eventually. Now, it is common to transfer exact payments for the smallest things. If someone buys you a coffee, for example, you can expect a $2.87 Venmo request to follow. Payment apps have turned us all into petty monsters.
To be fair, we are not just petty over cash. We are living in an age of pettiness. This is largely thanks to the internet and review sites such as Yelp. If your $2.87 coffee is cold, you are no longer forced to move on with your life; you can post a scathing review containing every petty detail of your traumatic experience.
Pettiness hasn’t just proliferated; it now has a certain cachet. Being overly concerned with trivial matters used to be the sign of a small, rather spiteful mind; now it is the sign of a popular Twitter account. Being incredibly petty has also, as one Canadian man discovered, become a good way to go viral. Adrian Pearce made headlines last year for keeping, but refusing to unwrap, a Christmas present a girlfriend gave him in 1970, shortly before she dumped him. He is now back in the news because he has persuaded the ex-girlfriend to come to his Christmas celebration this year and open the gift. Not to be petty, but I really hope she Venmo-charges him for whatever she bought.
