Money Talk

My wife is annoyed whenever I shared my view on money. It gets to the point that she is no longer wanting to talk to me about it since we don’t have the same perspective on it. I am cool with that. I can always take it to my blog. The risk of blogging is that I will offend people, which I had on numerous occasions in the past, but you blog and learn.

As I get older, I have a more realistic view on money. Right or wrong, it is my own perspective. They say that money doesn’t bring you happiness. In reality, you will be more miserable without money. Let’s face it. Everything costs money. Every time I get an oil change for my car, the dealer recommends repairs that would run two to three grants. Every time I call an HVAC company for a small job, they suggest a few grants worth of fixes. A plumber inspector suggests replacing a toilet for $700. Really? Do they think money just come out of my ass?

Even in my own marriage, money plays an important role. My wife and I both work and contribute to our family expenses. I am glad that she is not as calculated. If she ever decided to stay home with the kids, I would be fine with that. She would probably be OK with me being a stay-at-home dad, but I would never put myself in that situation. Even if she doesn’t think so, I know I would be viewed as a piece of shit for not making money. I don’t want to be a useless piece of shit.

When I first graduated from college, people looked down on me because I didn’t have a job. They thought I was too lazy to work. When I was younger, I didn’t think money was important, especially in a relationship. I was dead wrong. If you have no money, no one wants to fuck you. People say that if they fucked you for your money then that’s not real love. Well, at least you still got fucked. In a Vietnamese ballad, Duy Quang had written a memorable line: “Tôi xin người cứ gian dối nhưng xin người đừng lìa xa tôi.” It is literally translated as, “I beg you to keep lying to me, but I also beg you not to leave me.” Yes, keep fucking me for my money, but please don’t leave me. I knew exactly what he meant.

As you can tell why my wife has been annoyed with me. I don’t blame her. She didn’t marry me for my money. I didn’t have shit. I am not rich now either, but I make enough to be self-sufficient. I don’t have to rely on others. I am not a parasite. I am glad that my wife has a more rosy view on money than me. Then again, we are in a good relationship. The truth will only come out if shit doesn’t work out between us. I hope I never have to find out the truth, but if that time ever comes, she knows exactly where I stand on this issue.

I am just keeping it real. Even if money is not important, it solves lots of problems. I am not a slave to money, but I recognize its power. I wish I can proudly say I don’t give a shit about money, but I would be lying. I am witnessing guys hitting rock bottom because they have no job. People treated them like dirt. I had been there experienced that as well; therefore, I know how they feel. It’s a shitty reality. Stay strong, kiddos.

Maybe that’s just my world and the way I grew up. I should stop talking about my view on money to my wife and ruin her optimistic view. I am sure her parents went through tough times as well when they first migrated to the U.S., but for me it was first-hand experience. Working alongside my mom in sweatshops for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week in the summer, for a few dollars an hour, had left a deep impact on me and shaped my view on money. It was definitely not the American dream I had imagined. The kind of shits she had to put up with to make money to raise me broke my heart. I hated my dad in those moments for abandoning us. He didn’t hold up his end of the bargain. I felt like a fucking bastard no one gave a shit except my mom. Those emotions and experiences changed my perspective on money.

Even now I give my kids lectures every time they don’t finish their food or they waste money on dumbshits. They have no idea the value of money and how good their life is. I do not want them to be spoiled. They need to know that money does not just fall off trees. The sooner they understand the hardship of earning money, the easier they will navigate through life. I learned early on from seeing my mom struggled. They won’t see their mom and I struggle like my mom, but I make sure that they know we work our asses off as well.