Author Topic: You don't 'deserve' a vacation  (Read 3725 times)

Khaetra

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You don't 'deserve' a vacation
« on: April 28, 2019, 06:41:21 AM »
While I think it should have been titled differently (maybe 'You Can't Afford instead of Deserve), I think it has merit.  Of course those in the comment section differ:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/04/25/no-if-youre-debt-you-dont-deserve-vacation/?fbclid=IwAR1e6BcD7zoshKVjCfOMp5mEFzcPxussqqvnu-aBW7wLaHbQ22zVH6gFuFQ&utm_term=.dd22b52cabde

Metalcat

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Re: You don't 'deserve' a vacation
« Reply #1 on: April 28, 2019, 07:02:11 AM »
Lol, yeah, people used to drive me nuts when trumpeting proudly that they "paid cash" for their vacations, as if that means anything.

I've pointed out many times that it costs more in interest to sock away that money in a savings account rather than just pay down the cc and then max it out again to pay for the trip...but whatevs...math is hard or something.

horsepoor

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Re: You don't 'deserve' a vacation
« Reply #2 on: April 28, 2019, 07:48:30 AM »
I read that article yesterday, but I just went back and read some of the comments.

It's a decent face-punch, IMO.  It annoys me when people say the "deserve XYZ".  I don't believe anyone truly deserves anything beyond food, shelter, safety, etc.  None of us deserve anything, we just happened to land in a situation where we have a plethora of choices that most people on earth who work just as hard don't have.

If you replace vacation with brand new Lexus, there probably wouldn't be as much blowback.  However, I think the author focused too much on just credit card debt - what about cumulative debt vs savings, interest rates, etc.?  Way too simplistic.  I have zero percent CC debt, but we also have paid off cars, hundreds of thousands in retirement accounts, etc., so that's a different balance sheet, and I don't consider myself a financial hot mess.  I'm also only planning a short vacation by car this summer, where I'll stay with relatives most of the time, and I would never say I "deserve" it, only that I've earned the time off.

Bloop Bloop

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Re: You don't 'deserve' a vacation
« Reply #3 on: April 29, 2019, 01:16:31 AM »
I think most people deserve precisely what they get.

Metalcat

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Re: You don't 'deserve' a vacation
« Reply #4 on: April 29, 2019, 04:12:24 AM »
I think most people deserve precisely what they get.

Not to be a buzz kill in a silly thread, but you can't possibly be serious with this statement.

brute

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Re: You don't 'deserve' a vacation
« Reply #5 on: April 29, 2019, 06:13:13 AM »
I think most people deserve precisely what they get.

I deserved the fractured ribs and dented skull I got from a lead pipe when walking a woman back to her car from a club so she would feel safer? God damn, I never knew!

I'm a red panda

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Re: You don't 'deserve' a vacation
« Reply #6 on: April 29, 2019, 07:11:12 AM »
I think most people deserve precisely what they get.

Not to be a buzz kill in a silly thread, but you can't possibly be serious with this statement.

Thank you. I read that this morning and just couldn't even think of a way to reply.
There are SO many things outside of our control when we live life.  My husband deserved to be hit by a car that ran a red light to turn left while he was biking through a green light?  I deserved to have a stillborn baby because genetics sometimes just suck?

OtherJen

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Re: You don't 'deserve' a vacation
« Reply #7 on: April 29, 2019, 07:15:25 AM »
I think most people deserve precisely what they get.

Not to be a buzz kill in a silly thread, but you can't possibly be serious with this statement.

Adding to the mix: Did my cousin, a kind, hardworking, very health-conscious father of two young girls, deserve to die in his late 40s of a very aggressive cancer less than a year after his diagnosis? Did his girls deserve to lose their devoted dad when they were still in single-digit ages?

remizidae

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Re: You don't 'deserve' a vacation
« Reply #8 on: April 29, 2019, 09:13:00 AM »
« Deserving » just is not a useful way to think of financial decisions. Let’s leave it there.

Back on topic—one comment says, « A vacation is not a luxury; it’s a civic duty, because it makes us better people. » Yeah, this person is literally saying that those who travel internationally are better people. You get a lot of blatant  classism in the WashPo comment section.

Metalcat

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Re: You don't 'deserve' a vacation
« Reply #9 on: April 29, 2019, 09:19:59 AM »
« Deserving » just is not a useful way to think of financial decisions. Let’s leave it there.


Yeah...but really, the author only used the word "deserve" because she, like many of us, encountered people in dumpster-fire level cc debt spending on trips because they "deserve a vacation".

Bloop Bloop

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Re: You don't 'deserve' a vacation
« Reply #10 on: April 29, 2019, 10:43:28 AM »
I think most people deserve precisely what they get.

Not to be a buzz kill in a silly thread, but you can't possibly be serious with this statement.

I am. Feel free to disagree.

I should note that I meant in relation to financial and budgeting choices - not life events - as if that were not implied by the context of this thread.
« Last Edit: April 29, 2019, 10:45:14 AM by Bloop Bloop »

Metalcat

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Re: You don't 'deserve' a vacation
« Reply #11 on: April 29, 2019, 01:30:19 PM »
I think most people deserve precisely what they get.

Not to be a buzz kill in a silly thread, but you can't possibly be serious with this statement.

I am. Feel free to disagree.

I should note that I meant in relation to financial and budgeting choices - not life events - as if that were not implied by the context of this thread.

Lol, yeah...that was not clear at all.

So, you're saying that most people get what they deserve within the context of the financial consequences of decisions within their control?

If so, then yeah, that's obviously true, but not at all how your comment came off. That's why I asked.

Bloop Bloop

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Re: You don't 'deserve' a vacation
« Reply #12 on: April 29, 2019, 06:21:07 PM »
I think most people deserve precisely what they get.

Not to be a buzz kill in a silly thread, but you can't possibly be serious with this statement.

I am. Feel free to disagree.

I should note that I meant in relation to financial and budgeting choices - not life events - as if that were not implied by the context of this thread.

Lol, yeah...that was not clear at all.

So, you're saying that most people get what they deserve within the context of the financial consequences of decisions within their control?

If so, then yeah, that's obviously true, but not at all how your comment came off. That's why I asked.

My apologies. I definitely meant the former, not the latter. E.g., if you deserve a holiday, then pay for it it and receive it; but if you haven't budgeted but spend the money anyway, then you deserve the financial consequences that follow from your sense of entitlement. I.e. financially you reap what you sow.

js82

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Re: You don't 'deserve' a vacation
« Reply #13 on: April 29, 2019, 06:49:41 PM »
Back on topic—one comment says, « A vacation is not a luxury; it’s a civic duty, because it makes us better people. » Yeah, this person is literally saying that those who travel internationally are better people. You get a lot of blatant  classism in the WashPo comment section.

Exposure to different cultures/people who live and think differently from themselves can, and often does make people better human beings.  Part of empathy is being able to imagine the world as seen through the eyes of someone with a background/world view very different from one's own.

The problem is, no one learns this by taking a week's vacation to (insert fancy, pricy) destination here.  We learn it by taking the time to get to know people different from ourselves, listening to them, and taking the time understand how others see the world so that we see them as distinct, unique human beings.

For most of us, this doesn't require a long trip(or even a trip at all).  It can be as simple as getting to know a neighbor who lives down the street, or a coworker a few offices over.  That will teach anyone a lot more than staying at a 5-star hotel in a foreign country and snapping picturesque selfies at all the tourist hot spots.