money^3!
Monday, March 9, 2009
This has some relation to the earlier post on friendships.
I'm sure some of you would know that I'm prudent when it comes to buying big ticket items. (40 and up) PC games, models, (can go up to 80 with paints) tablets and even the latest want for a portable HDD always require me to do my background checks before buying them. The more expensive the item, the more the reassurances I need. The tablet took a few years, (though with it I still haven't mastered it at all) I take long to browse at model shops, and clothing requires equally long decision making time.
Well, recently I have been asked (would 'told' be a better word?), as all the other members have also been, to pay for a tennis training and competition jersey. The former costs 17, while the latter sets me back by 60 before discount. (said to be 10%, and excluding the matching bottom) I told my parents about it, and told them that while not only find it expensive, I also feel that the team should be finalised before asking us for the cash. Very simply, the team now has 12 members on board, and only 11 are needed. One of us will have to go, and there is some degree of possibility it would be me. To clarify, I do think that in measuring up to the rest, I am one of the lousier few, and if I were to be kicked out, I would have seen it coming.
The very fact that this possibility is open to me means I would oppose buying two jerseys that could be useless to me (by extension. My parents would foot the costs...) at a high cost, unless I was sure I would be in the team. But I'm not, we've gone through that. Thing is, the rest of the team doesn't seem to care. Even if I weren't the one being kicked out, (lets count those odds...) they said everyone should get the jersey anyway, possibly for some inclusive concept shit. Obviously, they either know themselves to be secure, or they find their parents easily milked cash cows. (I do bestow that assumption onto many of them, after what I've noted)
You would think, the situation is very simple. Tell them that I will only buy the jersey when I know I'm in! Unfortunately, it's not that simple. See, these teammates kind of take face value to be of quite some importance. Should I mention such a statement, they may subconsciously affirm that I am insecure over my position in tennis, and be more apt to kick me. I just want to cruise along to try my luck at not being kicked.
So my brother Isaac, who had been sitting next to me all along while this conversation was going on, (it was dinner) told me to forget what the rest thought and just tell them that I can't pay for it. He said that there was no harm in not getting the jersey. There is, though. It would be odd to see me in the school team (again, under assumption for the sake of this conversation) being the only one among 11 to not wear the same thing. That isn't image, its simply weird. Then he said, just tell them you can't pay, eventually they will buy it for you. He recounted his experience in army, during BMT, when his unit wanted to get a polo for everyone. That time, he just said he didn't have enough money. Even with constant pestering, he didn't relent, and in the end they just got it for him anyway. Incidentally, that's a case I mentioned in the original post.
Still, I felt that while he had some guts there, and quite admired him for his resolve, it was kind of toeing the line for me, since BMT, as I imagine it to be, should be quite a bonding experience, furthermore, such a case might earn some form of ostracisation among a tight unit. Not very good in army conditions.
Well, I haven't taken any steps to the jersey situation, and my parents appreciate me not asking them for the money just like that without being in the team. Still, it makes perfect sense to me to do what I did. Even if I didn't think of it being their money, it would be embarrassing for me to wear the jersey in the future (need to justify the cost, no?) and have people confirm if I really was indeed from the MJC tennis team. Ugh.
posted by joseph at 5:27 PM