Breakfast table conversations
Written by Annie on December 28th, 2008An excerpt from a conversation with my mother today at the breakfast table:
My mother: How concerned do you think Canadians are about… retirement?
Me: I don’t know.
My mother: With this financial crisis going on, do you think people in general are worried about their retirement?
Me: Maybe. But they’ll worry more when they actually retire.
My mother: But what if it’s too late? And they have no money? Or they’re in debt?
Me: Then they’re screwed.
My mother: So if I have no money left, what makes me different from the people in Africa?
Me: You have a house to live in.
My mother: But what if it gets foreclosured and the bank takes it away? And I have no money?
Me: Credit cards. The great thing about the developed world is that even if you don’t have money, you can still spend money.
My mother: I just get a fat credit card bill at the end of every month.
Me: You know what happens in Africa, if you have no money, you kind of … starve, get sick and… die.
My mother: At least then you’re not worrying about money.
And then my mother goes on to tell me about how all our lives, we’re just worrying about money. Even Boxing Day shopping is a form of that - “happiness” from saving a couple bucks on a few deals and steals, here and there.
Is life too short to worry? Or is life too long not to worry? How can we really enjoy life without money constantly being on our mind?
29
AM
I never really thought of it that way, Boxing Day being just another way of trying to relieve worries about money.
In my opinion, life is too long not to worry. Worries keep up us on our feet, keep us in touch with reality. A worry-free utopia isn’t coming anytime soon in our world.
29
PM
That’s true, worries keep us in touch with reality. However, I think that we as a society spend far too much time worrying about money; sometimes that distracts from enjoying life. Going on vacation, people steal freebies from the hotel. It’s all about money.
31
PM
Is owning wealth the only way to enjoy life? It depends on how much this country offers us free facilities for entertainment. I like Canada. The poor could enjoy as much as the rich, sometimes even more.
2
PM
I agree with you Yogurt. Canada is fortunate enough to offer free facilities for entertainment. But how about every day? It’s not necessarily about owning wealth, but about not letting how much your wealth is - whether that be a lot or not a lot - distract you from the greater pleasures of life.