I started a new job today, but believe it or not its not the major story. No, the real story is how I've become part of the legion of businesses which cater to Americans' sense of rampant, runaway consumerism.
I'm now in the rent-to-own business. Electronics, appliances, furniture and TV rentals are now my stock and trade. As I looked around the showroom floor I saw every evidence of gross capitalism at work. Instead of a standard 20 inch tube TV set, we carry the 50 inch plus widescreen LCD's. Instead of a plain sofa and love seat we carry massive corner installations that require a lumbar truss to lift. We have front access washers AND dryers, since toploading models are so passe. And so it goes.
Far be it from me to pass judgement on what other people should or shouldn't have in their homes. Only a dyed in the wool socialist could demand that someone else conform to a "reasonable" standard of living and keep a straight face. I am many things, but not socialistic in my worldview at all.
Having had my own recent spate of money problems, its easy for me to spot the path that one trods on towards financial damnation. And that path is littered with the telltale signs of living beyond one's means.
But hey its a gig, and a well paying one at that. God Bless America!
