PRIDE ALMOST PREEMPTED A YARD SALE

I owe T-mobile a lot of money for my wireless service so two days ago I decided I should attempt a yard sale. I’ve helped countless others execute the feat on Saturdays gone by. I’ve even helped with the double-headers that run Sat-Sun. But I never threw a solo gig. And now, thanks to Dave Ramsey’s wisdom, I’ve determined that getting out of debt is worth more than my affinities for my Logitech computer speaker/sub-woofer system.

My wife and I set out to sell as much as possible with no real plan other than to sort the junk the night prior and lay it out on tables and sheets the next morning. I’m sitting here writing this from the location of the experiment. I’ve sold all the large items while watching inhibitorless, Cherry red hot rods cruise by. I just saw a Tahoe on “Dubs” owned by a guy who works for American Medical Response. Of course Harleys ride up and down on weekends mounted by old brothas who swear old guys run things. And I’m not really trippin’ about the rims, exhaust systems and fancy floss that is California weekending. I’m not so critical because the truth is that I’m just like them at heart.

I must be like them right? Or else I would have never accrued so much debt paying for college degrees, accepting credit card offers and getting financed at 5-7% on auto loans. Am I crazy? I’ve spent my adult life being a slave to the myth that I’m not really broke. And it became apparent when I realized that, “Oh snap…a bruh is about to have his mobile phone turned way off on Monday if he doesn’t come up with an excessive amount of loot.” Imagine that – consequences that truly reveal the choices you’ve made over say a 13-year period. I am on the brink of being a business man with no cell phone. And at first I was embarrassed about that. Actually, I still am but the ominous thought that come Monday, my livelihood would be impaired, moved me to action. So I thought, “Ain’t nothin’ to lose.” It’s a double-negative yes but you get the idea. Sell everything. Sell it because slavery is foul. It’s like going to Coinstar, spending food stamps or eating lunch at your middle school with reduced-lunch tickets. We learn very early to pretend financially, at least I did. But in this economy I’m down with using the metallic currency no matter what color it is. I’m also down with selling an old TV for $10 (3 of them) if it will help me pay the people I owe. I used to exhaust myself for basketball knowing full well the slim odds of playing professionally. Isn’t it only fitting that we should exhaust ourselves to kill pretense and our acquired taste for owing people way more than the debt of love?