I am not a big fan of money. Right now I have a particular distaste for it, mostly because I don't have as much as I'd like.
I'm actually not doing so badly financially, or at least not as bad as some'such as my friend, who currently has about $1 to his name. My supposed lack of money comes down to my stubbornness: I have $21 in cash, and I refuse to go to an ATM machine to get any more before Thanksgiving. I'm allowing myself to buy food with a check card, but that's it.
The timing works out well'after Thanksgiving the Christmas shopping season will have officially begun, and it will be my civic duty to go broke buying my friends and families gifts.
I think my plan will be good for me'I can focus on what's really important, and only spend money on the things I really
eed.""
And the more I think about it, not having a lot of money to spend is a good thing. Because the way I see it, people who have extra money tend to do stupid things.
I know I'm guilty. For instance, earlier this year I found an album available online that I thought was out of print, and I got so excited that I whipped out my credit card without a second glance. When it arrived on my doorstep I found that while I assumed I had ordered a CD, I had actually ordered a record. This would be really awesome if I had a record player, but I don't. (At least now I have even more of an excuse to get one.)
My point is, if I didn't have the $12 to just throw around, I probably would've looked close enough at the description to notice that a 12 inch LP wouldn't fit inside my Discman.
I'm sure you're guilty as well. Take a look at yourself. Do you have any holes in your body or permanent ink etchings that you regret? Now look around your room. Do you see any kitschy items? Like Britney Spears dolls or Osama bin Laden action figures?
Our fiscal stupidity is the whole reason why Ebay was ingeniously invented. People who need money sell their crap to people who have money to spend on all that crap.
And that's just the average population. What about the many exceedingly rich celebrities, who will spend $200 on a designer t-shirt without batting an eyelash? Then they will go to their charity event of the week wearing an exorbitantly priced gown that they will wear only once, all the while saying, ""Puppies for Children is such a fabulous organization because if there's one thing that kids need, it's definitely puppies. And it's important that they have that because these children are the future of this nation.""
Maybe I'm just bitter. If I were rich, then I could buy all the CDs I wanted without having to think twice. In the meantime, I'd like to thank the gods of technology for blessing us with the magnificence of CD burning. Amen.
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'Erica Edwardson is a junior majoring in sociology who may be reached at eaedwardson@students.wisc.edu. Her column runs every Friday in The Daily Cardinal.
