Americans Need To Smarten Up

I realize this is too late for Memorial Day weekend, and maybe I'll dust it off for next years "summer gateway holiday." But I'm somewhat flabbergasted and sickened (yes, at the same time) by Americans and their self-righteous claim to vacation beyond and above their means. People, gas is $3.39/gallon! Why are you loading up that camper or RV and headed out? Why aren't you staying home and doing housework or important reading or exercising? Why give the oil companies all the ammo they need to keep prices high? Don't you think they'd shake in their boots if America "en masse" stayed home this holiday and gave the finger to higher gas prices?
Why take flight and subject yourself to the ridiculousness that has become air travel today? Full body scans and unwelcome gropes from sub-60 IQ TSA goons? Stay home and watch the air travel industry rethink their stupidity!
Why ride US highways that have simply become nationwide speed-traps? Why give overpaid, extra Y-chromosome state troopers a chance to lord their ill-gotten authority over you? Why add to corrupt state police coffers for driving a few miles over the arbitrary speed-limit? Plenty of murders, thefts, rapes and real crime still going on, but they're there for the lucrative speed ticket money; not to protect you. Stay home and put a crimp into their needless overtime!

Here's where I might torque you even more. You're an American. You don't necessarily deserve to take flight every freakin holiday weekend that pops up on the calendar. Stay home, save some money and pay off your credit cards and plan some investment strategies. Do some yardwork, read some really challenging and intelligent literary works, play with your kids. By all means: cookout, play ball, interact with your good neighbors. Run a yard sale to sell your junk and improve your finances. Pedal your bicycle around the block and really take a good look at your neighborhood and town. But stay home and don't put your money in someone else's pocket that may not deserve it. That includes the VISA/MASTERCARD loan sharks, any oil company involved in the current gas gouge-a-thon, Winnebago or any RV retailer that pawns off those monster vehicles that offer no redeeming qualities or retailers offering a plethora of Chinese-made crap that you don't need to clutter your home with. Get it? I get the feeling that Joe Six-Pack and Ralph White-Trash feel it their entitlement to hit the road and live their often miserable lives at a different locale for 3 day weekends. Truth is, they'd be better off staying home and putting attention to domestic issues rather than the chance to drink beer at a place with a different view.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoy vacations and imbibing beverages of all sorts of exoticness. But I chose to work this holiday weekend and totally nixed any travel for Memorial Day. I watched a parade and will cookout (in my own backyard) without spending any extra $$$ that I normally wouldn't. I'm reading some very dry, but necessary financial articles and have gone over my portfolio with a fine tooth comb. My wife and I are deciding what we'll do to invest my daughter's savings account that I started for her at birth. My major expenditure for the weekend was a quick trip, while out for groceries, to Blockbuster to rent a horror flick and the new James Bond film. I also took the time to scribble a note to old friends and dropped it off in the mail.
No, not the most exciting of weekends. But a far better period of activity than running a gas hog RV to an overcrowded campground full of screaming kids and their cigarette smoking, beer-swilling, loud & obnoxious, sports-talking parents.

Millions Hit The Road For Memorial Day Weekend

For many people, Memorial Day weekend is considered the unofficial start to summer. It won't be long now before the kids are out of school and families begin hitting the roadways and the airways for vacation.Here are some simple steps you and your family can take to make sure your trip is a success—a trip everyone enjoys, but also a success when it comes to safety.For millions of Americans Memorial Day means finally getting to take a break from everyday craziness and enjoy a much deserved vacation. Every year millions of people pack up the car and hit the road in search of a little rest and relaxation.Despite an increase in gas prices this year, numbers are actually up when it comes to those expected to travel by car. According to AAA, 30.9 million people are expected to drive to their destination; 4.1 million plan to fly; and 1.9 million will take a bus or train.

{I'd like my SOC (Sound Of Cannons) readers to join me next year in eliminating their Memorial day travel plans and make it a "stay-at-home" weekend. While I'd like to hear you doing productive things, you could chill out and watch TV all day, should you so choose. Save the money, invest it wisely, reduce your debt and add to your financial education. Drop me a line with what you did in the Comments section. Thanks for your time!~Ed.}