Wednesday

Bills That Keep Up Appearances

As a man there are bills you simply don't want to pay. You don't believe they deserve to be paid. They are a waste of time, money (the point in the first place) and usually brain cells.

If I'm on-time with anything in my life it's bill-paying. Yet month after month I forget to pay my infernal cable bill until one day the television is no longer working. I never want to pay to have it turned back on. NEVER.

But...

If the TV were to ever stay off for more than 24 hours, then the kids that live here might begin to wonder, Why is the TV no longer working? What is wrong? They don't even watch that much television but to have something and then make the leap that something isn't operating due to an error on my part... Then wife will be standing somewhere nearby with her arms folded glaring at me with a look on her face that screams, What are you doing to my kids?

As a father I have no desire to shield my kids from the uglier truths that life occasionally shares, but in my home I want them to be as secure as is physically, emotionally and financially manageable. And so I pay, so that the above question will never be raised. That is, until the day we have a family meeting and announce that we are doing away with television.

A man can dream, right?