If even Mark Hamill had to scrounge the trash bins for discarded cigarette butts to smoke, isn’t the future of us mere mortals doomed for sure?
Bare essentials? More like dire straits.
Grab and Uber have drastically reduced the costs of my daily commute. It is now at a conservative estimate of S$30 daily, that is, if I am in Singapore every day. 30 bucks a day is around 900 bucks a month. If I have a thousand bucks a month, that basically pays for transportation alone and there’s no cash left for any purchase of any kind. When I turn 65, a thousand bucks a month is also what I’ll probably get from CPF payouts.
In the meantime, there are people who go on social media and boast about how they stuff their faces with caviar and lobster; yes, the same narcissists who hang on to their air miles for dear life instead of redeeming a couple of cheap air tickets for their cash-strapped parents. (Happened to someone I know.) I’ve known of spouses who receive multiple paychecks but horde them all for themselves and dispense a trickle at a time to their jobless other halves; yes, the same people who are educated beyond their intelligence and who go around talking about how much they love you, and throwing money away unashamedly and audaciously buying crap in your face, while you have to think twice before you sit down at the food court for a three-dollar bowl of noodles.
Long story short: if you don’t have your own stash of cash at the end of your working life, you are fucked royally. In this day and age, a thousand bucks a month doesn’t go far. A few years down the road, with inflation and all, it’ll be worse. If you harbor the Panglossian notion that your kids are going to support you in your old age, you must have attained the height of naiveté. It’s wisdom you ought to have acquired at this age, my friend, not naiveté. Nowadays kids tend to behave as if you are not even there! If you are banking on the hope those who declare undying love for you are going to bail you out, it’s time you wake up. No, they are building their own nest eggs, and you are not necessarily part of that future! Count yourself lucky that bones are thrown in your direction. Rejoice and praise the Lord when you get the chance to eat the scraps off their tables. I know what I am talking about, because I see this happening in the lives of a few people I know. For an example, click here.
People can’t be trusted anymore. It hurts when its’ your loved ones.
In order to trust someone, their actions and words must be synchronized. When there is no synchronization, I am reminded of people who say “Food here is horrible and portions are small” when they are unhappy with an eatery. Isn’t that a contradiction? If the food is horrible why are you complaining that the portions are small? You must have eaten the whole lot, and if they are horrible, why did you even eat the food?
When people see contradictions and sense that someone does not mean what they say, or do things contrary to their promises, trust will be lost. Many parents, for instance, trust their children to do the right thing and when they disappoint – despite all the right upbringing – we continue to love them. Family is everything, right? But the milk of your human kindness can go sour when kids turn douchy – when they think they know more than you, when they snap at you and are rude to you, when they think because they are legally adults, they can do whatever they want, tattoo their bodies or whatever, stay out till dawn, don’t even tell you where they go or what’s happening in their lives and block you from viewing their bragging and preening on social media.
Because, my friends, in the end, it’s all about money. You may not agree, but yes, at the end of the day, it all boils down to money. As long as you are a walking ATM, your kids will love you. That’s what many parents say. All the rest is pure bullshit. Talk is cheap, isn’t it? Who can’t talk and declare undying love? Even between husbands and wives, in the end, it’s about money.
I cringe when I hear people swearing eternal love. All these cheap talkers and human detritus should be euthanized. Better yet, kill yourself. Really – seriously – make the world a better place by killing yourself.
Save the rest of us the trouble.