On Being in Debt

I received a call this afternoon from a sales person.

We chatted, briefly, but when it came down to buying the product, I told her I couldn't afford it.

But of course, they have a payment plan.

I told her I have a pathological aversion to debt. She tried to get around that objection by telling me that paying it off over time was not a form of debt.

I replied that, to me, making a commitment to paying something off in installments was no different to me than being in debt.

She didn't really have an answer to that and the call ended politely.

I know I got some of this attitude from my old man. He didn't like being in debt, either, and when I was knee-high to a grasshopper, his contempt for people who borrowed money was obvious. For a brief time, when he was new to Canada, he even worked for a collection agency. The picture he painted was one of some very undesirable people, and much less even, if I might add, very undesirable friends.

It didn't really mean anything, to me, as a squirt. I had to live a while, meet more people, have some lived experience.

But not completely, I guess, because right from the start, I didn't like owing people money.

I'm talking about legitimate debts here, not taxes or towing storage fees.

Over time, I started to notice that, among my friends, some of them paid you back when you loaned them money, and others didn't.

The ones that paid you back were always grateful to you for giving them credit. Their gratitude gave them more credit, not in cash, but in character.

And then there were the ones who never paid you back and got very angry with you for reminding them that they owed. Or they insisted they had paid you back even though they had not.

I don't think I am alone in having had that experience.

And then, of course, I made the mistake of reading Ayn Rand, but I'm not going to get into that right now. No way.

Other than to say that Rand enhanced my ability to spot moral frauds.

Once you see it, you can't unsee it. Like the loudmouthed Liberal sitting at the table, with a group of guys, in a bar, who is always in the washroom when it's his turn to buy a round. (Or Archie's son-in-law in "all in the Family." Cruising through life on someone else's dime. And full of advice on how the rest of his benefactor's money should be spent.)

And then! I got into the taxi business. Wow! What an experience that was. If you want to understand why Canada keeps on electing left-wing politicians look no further than the taxi business. You will meet every conniving, virtue-signalling, mooching, moralizing, demanding, loving, compassionate, caring exponent of why the money you earn should benefit someone else - usually them.

One of their favourite lines, when they tell you that payment will be made at the other end, is "you can trust me," even though you have never met them before. Right away, you know they are either stupid, or they're lying. Trust is something you earn, not something some cab driver is supposed to give you. Right off the bat, you know something about this person. They want something for nothing, just like all Liberal and left-wing voters.

I hate these fuckers.

And to top it all off, no matter how careful you are about paying off what you owe in order to avoid going into debt, you have these cocksuckers whom your greedy taxi passengers voted for. And they have the power to go deep into debt for you and deep into your pocket. Deeper than a hundred of your low-life acquaintances. And not just for the duration of one taxi ride, but for your whole fucking life.

And even decent people vote for this shit!

And while they claim to be sincerely acting in your best interests, and that they have nothing but respect for you, and that they are all about "choice," and "diversity," they reserve the decision about how much debt you shall be encumbered with to themselves. When it comes down to them telling you how your money will be spent, there is no diversity. Sorry. You breathe, you pay.

Some choice.

As to the rising cost of borrowing, well considering who is spending all of our money, that should come as no surprise.

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As far as I can remember, I have never had a flu shot. I considered my decades of driving a taxi and being exposed to every sneezing, snotting, coughing, sniffling, groping, bleeding, urinating, and defecating specimen of Liberal voters sufficient to beef up my immunities. Plus a gram of C per day.

About five years ago, my doctor asked me if I was interested in getting a flu shot. I told her, "not really, I don't think I really need one."

Her reply was not judgmental, not intimidating, not scary, not moralistic. She just said, "Well you seem to have pretty good immunities anyway."

And that was that.

I am having difficulty imagining a similar discussion with her today about a Coof shot. And I find it difficult to imagine that that would be her honest medical opinion, given what might happen to her if she dared have a different opinion. (And word got out.)

In other words, I don't really know if I can still trust my doctor.

That's sad.