Bigger threat to Democracy: The debit card or social media?
I miss paper money.
And the thrill of carrying a money clip with cash.
But today there’s ‘digital currency’, which is hard to put your finger(s) on… Fiscal Vapor.
Making the value of money hard to appreciate (shakes fist angrily!).
Fortunately, I learned the value of money from summer jobs and my father:
Summer jobs taught we exchange our time for money – nothing greater than Friday paychecks turned into cash!
They also taught to return to college so we wouldn’t have to keep doing ‘summer jobs’.
For me, that was three summers at a Kellogg’s factory.
While I must have been a great worker – my nickname was ‘lightning’ – I feared my co-workers resented me for being able to ‘escape’ to college. But I assured them that I skipped a lot of classes and didn’t pay attention when I went, so I wasn’t learning much, anyway, which seemed to help.
And because union members could decline overtime, it fell to the summer hires, making us good for something. I worked 53 straight days – there must have been a price war on Sugar Smacks – delivering roughly 12-13 days of productivity. But those Fridays, the “mule got a drink”.
Summers were about building a nest egg for the return to college – and beer money for a few weeks in September.
From my father, I learned money was not be to taken lightly, he being a son of immigrants and a child of the Great Depression – though from his description, I’ve no idea what was so Great about it.
He shopped specials, and knew the price of everything, everywhere. And those were days when every meal was eaten at home, so our annual trip to McDonalds was our family vacation.
But handing over hard-earned cash was a great way to know what things cost.
At times, we even saved our money to make an expensive purchase, which was called ‘delayed gratification’ (kids, ask your parents).
Unfortunately, kids today (SFA!) learned their respect of money from Veruca Salt: “I want it now!”
And if social media is the worst thing to happen to kids today, the debit card is a close second.
Money no longer existed! It was merely a ‘card swipe’.
No consideration of What does this cost? How much cash do I have?
My fantasy became my children balancing their checkbooks – or a child with a checkbook!
And my recurring ‘wake in a cold sweat’ nightmare: Your ATM balance is not your account balance!
Purchases my father taught me to agonize over, I now watched ‘just happen’ – I was living in a world where cost per ounce, two-for pricing, and BOGOs didn’t matter – kids just bought what they wanted.
Which was fortunate, since calculating a BOGO or two-for price, can be complicated – perhaps too challenging for a generation that can’t write a check, address an envelope, or make change…
But in an interesting evolution, as our children became parents, they became ‘shoppers’ – but obsessed with ingredients, not price.
Reading ingredient labels the way we read cereal boxes at breakfast.
And once a product had the ‘right’ ingredients, paying anything for it…
Meaning our favorite foods: sugar, fried chicken, Coca-Cola, donuts, hot dogs – I could go on, but I’d have to break for a snack – have gone the way of cash money.
Replaced by organic, non-GMO, nut free, whole grain yogurt – with infused protein.
Which is Gr-r-reat! Not good, Gr-r-reat! for breakfast, and child nutrition.
Until their parents leave and ‘Pa Rules’ commence: “Hey kids, how about an air-fried hot dog?”
Want to read more about summer jobs? Check out the post of 7/10/22:
For 177 more posts like this –each with a wish for a hundo – go to beersatthenifty.com. Your phone will display every post, and you can waste an hour or two.
TO ENHANCE YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THIS POST, PAIR IT WITH THE FOLLOWING SONGS:
You’re likely aware Sinead O’Connor died this week. Tragic news, and someone with a history of mental health struggles, so a cautionary tale, that.
A great day to listen to her catalog, which is extensive and incredibly varied. Her debut album was 1987’s The Lion and the Cobra, which got heavy airplay on Album 88 (kids, ask your parents) – check out Mandinka. It was followed by I do not want what I haven’t Got, a massive international success. Nothing Compares 2 U a huge hit, but The Emperor’s New Clothes my all time favorite Sinead song.
I was also fond of Sean-Nos Nua, her album of traditional Irish songs, and Gospel Oak, a 1986 EP. But lots of great stuff to check out.
Articles re: her career have focused on her discomfort with the music industry and fame, and her apparent willingness to sabotage her success, but it’s more fun to listen to her music. But if you’re interested in that angle, google the letter she wrote to Miley Cyrus after the Wrecking Ball video, warning her about being ‘pimped out’ by the music industry.