Like most Americans, I have now received my $600 "gift" from Uncle Sam and what's not to like about free money?? Especially after considering how much I paid in taxes last year after making more than I've ever made in my life thanks to overtime and several bonuses.
Of course, I don't think Sam would be proud of what I did with it. I know that I was supposed to run out to the Mall or some other store and buy something frivolous to fuel the economy. Maybe get a new stereo receiver or some new shoes to inject some cash into the slowing consumer markets?? Well not me, the same day that I received it, I sent it promptly to my credit card that I have been whittling down to nothing since I started working as a travel nurse. It's so un-American of me to pay off my consumer debt when everyone else is just charging more. More importantly, it's so NOT Generation X of me to only buy things that I can pay for in cash. I'm of the generation where they signed you up for credit cards on campus despite the fact that most students had no money or income. I remember them hanging out on the quad and offering silly gifts for filling out the Visa application, knowing full well that a full time student had NO business with a credit card with a $2000 limit. Those poor saps that took the easy money are now the ones that a decade later are still paying on student loans, credit card debt and basically making the banks rich on interest. I'd be curious to see whether credit cards are still passed out like candy on today's campuses like they were in the early 90s?? Something tells me times have changed on the bank's end, though I'm sure the 19 year olds would still happily mortgage their future for a new X-Box, iPod or laptop computer if someone offered it to them for marginal payments each month.
No comments:
Post a Comment