Uncle Roger's Notebooks of Daily Life

I'm Willing to Cheat

Most everyone, I think, would like to be wealthy, at least somewhat. I'm not talking Bill Gates/Larry Ellison wealthy, but, at the least, house-paid-off-nice-car wealthy. Personally, I'd like to pay off my mortgage and be able to buy a vacation home, and maybe a little tent trailer. Wealthy enough that I can afford to spend time with the kids, but I don't need to be so wealthy that I don't need income. (Though I wouldn't mind it.) And, at this point in my life, I don't mind "cheating".

When I was younger, I wanted to get rich by working hard, being creative, and earning my money myself. A noble ideal indeed. I did pretty well, actually. I do own a home and even though the reason I could afford to purchase it was my father's skills, intelligence, and hard work, I still had to work hard to be able to pay the mortgage. It's not like it was completely handed to me. For the first few years, I was not only paying the mortgage on the house (in which my parents were living) but my rent as well.

So I worked hard and worked to build my fortunes. I did okay. I didn't make the right financial choices, of course (except the house), but I enjoyed myself. I had a heck of a rehearsal studio where I noodled about and composed bad music. I did a lot of backpacking. I enjoyed the company of friends. I have no regrets about any of it.

Back then, as far as I was concerned, working hard was the "right" way to get rich. Winning the lottery, marrying rich, and other such means of gaining wealth were "cheating" -- you didn't earn it yourself. I didn't want to win the lottery; I wanted to be able to look at my world and say, "See, I did all this. I worked hard and earned this. This is the fruit of my labor." I didn't want to have to tell people "Yeah, well, I won the lottery."

Now, however, I'm old. Now, I don't mind cheating. I'm perfectly willing to take my lottery winnings and tell people "Yeah, well, I won the lottery, but I don't care. I'm taking the kids to the playground instead of going to work."

Of course, I suppose I ought to buy a lottery ticket now and then.