No Funny in the Money

I think a sense of humor helps me get through the more difficult aspects of existence. Being generally optimistic is hard work, but mostly I believe I succeed and my life is better for it.

 

When it comes to money, there's very little funny.

 

It's like when, in Meet Me in St. Louis, Rose says, "I hate, loathe, despise and abominate money!" Mr. Smith quips, "You also spend it."

 

And that's most of our relationships with money, isn't it? We don't like it and yet we embrace it every day, justify spending it, run out of it, get some more of it, try to be frugal with it, justify spending and so on.

 

And this time of year, in the good ol' U S of A, I can see the strain in the face of most people. Money is running out and most folks are in the process of spending more of it than they should. In short, they are mostly miserable.

I was in Walmart the other day (don't ask, we don't shop there, I didn't buy anything and I feel guilty about just going through those doors) and this young couple was shopping for an appliance. I think it was a heater, or a blender or something. Anyway, the man had picked something out and the woman was insisting they could not afford it. The man continued to state that they needed this particular appliance and the woman was embarrassed and pissed that she had to keep telling him to go put it the F back. The escalation was quick and filled with unexpressed, barely tempered rage.

 

It was awful. It made my gut hurt. It made me want to go put that thing on my credit card and give it to them so they'd just stop hating each other for that moment. But I didn't. I just held it all in my abdomen for a few minutes, swallowed the stress of the situation and got the hell out of there.

See? No funny in the money.

 

I'm going to try and find some funny, try to remember that in a year or even six months the money situations of today will not exist or be much, MUCH less important, and mostly try to find the important quiet moments of family and the almost narcotic scent of pine and the precious smiles and laughter of those I love.

I so appreciate the life I'm in and the incredible people in it with me.

 

"Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Let your heart be light.

Next year all our troubles will be out of sight" - Esther Smith

 

Thanks for reading, off to write... and chill out.

 

Casey

 

Comments

  1. Brian Miller8/12/12 04:59

    i feel you man....money can jack you up pretty good...its the number one cause of divorce...and you are right that the money situations change as well...and what we find stressful we will not tomorrow...

    ReplyDelete

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