Happy Sunday to all of you.
My 9 year old son loves the song “Thrift shop” by Macklemore (perhaps not an appropriate song for a 9 year old but I’m pretty liberal in that regard). After asking me multiple questions regarding thrift shops, he then decided he really wanted to go to one. I’ll admit, I’m not a big thrift shop guy. My fellow coaches refer to me as a “country club”. I don’t take this to be a compliment but the standing joke is I’m a little fancy in my “stuff”. I typically buy nice things, and spend a little more money than the avg person on clothes, wine, cars, etc….as I type this I feel like a materialistic moron. I’m not sure if I’m the only one out there but I’ve also noticed my cost of living has gone up as I’ve experience a little more success in my career. I end up saying no to less things, and yes to anything we want (within reason). Kids need new shoes. $110, no problem….new Nike socks, $13 a piece, no problem; new wine membership, $1000 for 12 bottles, once a year, no problem (except I have 5)….hotels, vacations, fancy dinners, no problem. Cost of living has doubled, the joy in it has not. This isn’t a new revolution, Kim and I are working on bringing our cost of living down.
Back to the thrift shop-I’m explaining to Thomas before he roles in there that this is a real store and not something like the video where it’s funny. People are shopping for things they need…..Thomas ends up buying a pair of footballs shoes for $6.50, a backgammon set for my birthday for $5, and 20 golf balls for $3.5, (including 4 pro v1’s, which I buy in a back of 3 for $12). He looked at us like he just hit the lottery….quote “dad, my football shoes were $95 last year, these are $6.50”.
I think I learned more than he did yesterday. I’m not suggesting you all go to a thrift shop or start buying all your stuff second hand, but this little exercise yesterday helped me. I have created the habit of buying anything I want whenever I want it and that mindset needs to change. It’s actually lazy…perfect example for me is having groceries in the fridge, ready to go, but tired and don’t feel like helping with or making dinner, so I call Kim on the way home and say “I’ll meet you Blackhawk grille”….so we go out…..maybe you can relate, maybe not, but that’s my reality. Teaching my kids they can have anything they want all the time is not the right message. The thrift shop just helped ignite the concept of value and need, or lack thereof.
Let’s rock it next week. Happy Sunday.