Friendship
I'm not a people person. I don't go out looking for people to hang out with. I work in a small office and don't socialize with anyone I work with. I already spend 10-hours a day with these people!
So it was nice to have friends from out-of-town come by during the July 4th weekend. We also had some in-town visitors on the 4th that we hadn't seen in a while.
Max Weber wrote about (somewhere, don't ask me) people constantly checking themselves according to social rank. We all have a mechanism that implicitly puts us in some kind of social order. I guess I've been doing this. Alot of thoughts have shot through my head over the last few months about what the hell am I doing.
Shouldn't I be further along?
Shouldn't I have accomplished more?
Or more generally, what are we doing wrong?
I know as a financial advisor that when I see people with overbuild houses or the giganteous SUV that they are most likely swiming in debt. I've seen it too many times. I've met the guy making over a $100k and unable to pay his electric bill. I've vistited the couple living in the $500k house, but never have guests because they can't afford the furniture - more than once!
Truth be told, we're doing pretty good. Kids have a stay-at-home mom, private schools, two cars, 3 tvs, directv, air conditioning, and heat, and, well, the list goes on. We're doing pretty good, but I tend to focus too much on the bad.
So when friends come to visit - relatively same age as us - almost all with post-graduate degrees and they voice the same complaints, it's nice to know we're not alone.
We aren't the only ones to think that a trip to the movies feels like a major expense?
We aren't the only ones who feel totally screwed by the local amusement park?
I'm not the only one who thinks $20+ for pizza and cokes is crazy?
We aren't the only ones who think student loans will never end?
Little things. But they accumulate.
The list goes on, but I'd rather hear yours.
It was nice to have friends over. We weren't whining, just talking. But when we're left to our own devices and don't talk to anyone, it's easy to get lost in our own neurosis and moods. My friends anchor me. They set my mind straight. They let me know that there are people out there with the same problems I have and that God isn't singling me out.
Friendship is nice.
Stay You.
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So it was nice to have friends from out-of-town come by during the July 4th weekend. We also had some in-town visitors on the 4th that we hadn't seen in a while.
Max Weber wrote about (somewhere, don't ask me) people constantly checking themselves according to social rank. We all have a mechanism that implicitly puts us in some kind of social order. I guess I've been doing this. Alot of thoughts have shot through my head over the last few months about what the hell am I doing.
Shouldn't I be further along?
Shouldn't I have accomplished more?
Or more generally, what are we doing wrong?
I know as a financial advisor that when I see people with overbuild houses or the giganteous SUV that they are most likely swiming in debt. I've seen it too many times. I've met the guy making over a $100k and unable to pay his electric bill. I've vistited the couple living in the $500k house, but never have guests because they can't afford the furniture - more than once!
Truth be told, we're doing pretty good. Kids have a stay-at-home mom, private schools, two cars, 3 tvs, directv, air conditioning, and heat, and, well, the list goes on. We're doing pretty good, but I tend to focus too much on the bad.
So when friends come to visit - relatively same age as us - almost all with post-graduate degrees and they voice the same complaints, it's nice to know we're not alone.
We aren't the only ones to think that a trip to the movies feels like a major expense?
We aren't the only ones who feel totally screwed by the local amusement park?
I'm not the only one who thinks $20+ for pizza and cokes is crazy?
We aren't the only ones who think student loans will never end?
Little things. But they accumulate.
The list goes on, but I'd rather hear yours.
It was nice to have friends over. We weren't whining, just talking. But when we're left to our own devices and don't talk to anyone, it's easy to get lost in our own neurosis and moods. My friends anchor me. They set my mind straight. They let me know that there are people out there with the same problems I have and that God isn't singling me out.
Friendship is nice.
Stay You.
Back to Main Page
posted by Howard McEwen, CFA at Monday, July 11, 2005
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