Dr. Fuller Evermore
What to talk about his budgetary/financial issues and its allied management! ‘Stony broke or flushed with money’ could be an appropriate phrase to describe him. And this mostly kept him in a miserable position, almost whole his life. Contrary to other salaried people, he had always been an extensive spendthrift, he never counted what he had in-hand, and how much he was spending, and how much he had to save for rainy days. He never even knew how much money was there in his wallet, and he never noticed how much of it had someone taken out. His close associates called him ‘the cursed one with a hole in his palms’, hence, never having any money saved with himself. He was so spendthrift that upon hearing about any of the money in the form of bank checks or bills in the pipeline, he’d spend it off-hand through borrowed money from friends, even before he got them in hand. Such folly?
Ask him for dinner, count him ‘In’; be it some party, count him ‘In’; a friend or an acquaintance needs to go somewhere, his car was there with gas/petrol filled for him; and so on. Service-provision and care-giving to all those around him were his charm. All around him knew this habit of his and hence he earned the title of ‘Count with no County’ or an ‘Earl of Nowhere’ by his friends. He spent well on his friends and family equally. A good-hearted and good-natured person is always exploited and is taken granted for. And he was. Surprisingly, he always knew it whenever he was being used or was being taken for granted. Many a times, he himself shared with a few friends that he was aware that he is being used for petty tasks but he never mentioned to the one using him. Was it his morality of his good-nature, his high standards, or his stupidity?
Normally, he was surrounded with people who kept accounts and records of each penny spent and were at an extreme end of misery which used to make him nauseous. Consider it good or bad, but he was completely the opposite. Spend when you have, try being sober at other times. This was his motto. If he was out for a dine-out or some party with friends younger than him, it was customary for him to pay and he never let the others pay. Being elder to them, he considered it his obligation, not theirs. Noteworthy that he had friend circles of all ages and of all professions in town. Similarly, he never kept account of minor money exchanged between him and his friends. If he lent someone some money, he’d never remind them. He used to say that if the borrowers are morally high and ethically sound, they will have to return themselves without being reminded of the borrowed money. And if they ever forgot, he never reminded them ever. Was he putting his friend’s nature on test?
Buying gifts for friends and colleagues was a normal ritual of his. A ritual far lost in today’s digital world. He always considered that one’s hands should be at an upper level and always-giving. Guess it gives the reader a small picture of his ‘EARL’ nature. His house was a true example of his all-giving nature. He felt bad if someone who came to his house, be it a plumber, electrician, or some guest and he was sent without at least a cup of tea. Rather he was always insistent to offer food and cater anything edible available at his house. Bless his wife who was also always obedient to him with her provision of untiring services to his all-giving nature. Never a frown was seen on her forehead when she was suddenly asked by him to cater food for sudden guests or door-knockers at his home. Are such rituals and norms still prevalent in society or are a lost cause?
Month’s end always was a misery for him, asking for loans from friends and returning them on next salary. And it kept on the same till ever, and still is. He always thought that his pay was not according to his services and his needs. But, in fact, this was a thought shared by all salaried-class personnel almost throughout the world. Worldly affairs are never just ones, are they? It actually was surely his lavish way of spending which was to be rightly blamed. But old habits die hard. A right-hander cannot be taught to become a left-hander in old age. Isn’t learning newer skills easier for younger minds?
It might be awe for any sensible man to know that crossing 50s in age, four kids on heel, and he hadn’t got even a single penny in store, in the bank account or in any other form. Let’s not count his lavish big house, thanks to his dad. Bless his friends who knew his nature and always lent him whenever needed. Tick-tocking his life with small persistent pushes. But for how long would those pushes go on?
Heartily admitted that it was surely no way to spend life. It was just like ‘thinking of today, and ‘forgetting totally about tomorrow’. But after all, he was a spendthrift. Wasn’t he?
Tick Tock, Tick Tock, Tick Tock…………………
The tick tock is a countdown to an inevitable downfall!
What if he realized the need of time to change for betterment. What if the thought of tomorrow became not an afterthought but a goal to strive for. What if he realized that though the holes in his personality could not be stitched, yet they could be masked through a positive surge. Hopeful and realistic, wouldn’t it be?
Tick Tock, Tick Tock, Tick Tock…………………
And now the tick tock is not neither the deafening sound of the time passing it by nor the inevitable downfall. Rather, it’s an orchestrated rhythm to build a future on. A Phoenix Rising!
