The power of words/retake
Most of the time I don’t pay much attention to TV and radio advertisements as they buzz by my ears but every once in awhile one of them will catch my attention and snap me out of my apathy. This message I heard recently while driving and listening to my favorite music channel did just that. While my citing of it might not be completely accurate here is the essence of it.
“If you owe money to the IRS, or your credit card company, don’t sweat it, we will show you how to get them off your back so they will not bother you again. “
When I listen to this message a new realization hits me on the head. I become conscious of the fact that all the time that I paid these monthly payments and declared my income I really did not have to do it. I was just too slow to catch on and understand how other people do it. The game of life was too quick or sophisticated for me and so I was left behind, on the side of the road, an easy prey.
This epiphany that I am sensing while sitting in my car is growing inside me like a snow ball. I now realize that while I am dutifully paying my debts and working hard on the task of spending only what I can pay back, someone, quick and more resourceful (or daring) is getting away not only with irresponsible spending but with not paying . I was a good student and I know it goes against the most basic law in the book, the one drilled into us all, the one we were taught by our parents and several teachers on right and wrong. You do the crime and so you need to be able to stand up like a man (maybe women) and be accountable.
This message is being broadcasted day after day on the main channels creeping in between innocent songs and other enlightening but essentially harmless advertisements and this makes it sound okay. Yes you overspent; yes you were irresponsible, a moocher and a parasite, a sleek trickster but there is no cause for alarm, help is on the way. We declare this over the airwaves for everyone to share in our great scheme.
I listen to this message time and time again, each time making a great effort to read between the spoken lines, seeking an honest tone something that will suggest a candid intent. There is nothing there but waving a smooth invitation to join in on a far from honest plot. It is a double edged well crafted web where the predators while making sure to get their share will not hesitate to con both sides.
The possible insinuations and repercussions of this mind set are staggering; it can easily affect more and more people, leak into other walks of life and contaminate them. As motel owners we already see the start of it. We encounter more and more incidents when guests are trying to pull a fast one and walk away from paying by either lying or becoming aggressive and abusive. They are using the famous and often harmful slogan, the customer is always right even when he is wrong but underneath it I can detect that hidden message. Only the stupid, timid or slow; concedes to his mistakes and when caught in action resign do the “right thing”.
So let’s keep in mind that even if words are just that, words, seemingly harmless, in the wrong hands they can become a weapon. We should always remember how easy it is to be blinded and fooled by skilful rhetoric and walk into the web willingly, only to wake up helplessly tangled and unable to free one-self. This awareness and the recognition of how easy it is to use words to create a certain frame of mind will help us stay watchful and maybe even prevent this mind set from spreading and taking over.
I think this is a 'cleaner' rendition, an improvement, but I still think it's really about dishonesty and money, not about words or about social contamination stemming from an attitude about money. That's just not going to be most readers' takeaway.
ReplyDeleteYou want the last graf to carry a lot of weight--the larger perspective--but I don't think it can do all you want from it. Your reader is thinking about credit cards and motels and is not yet ready for larger considerations suddenly tacked on at the end.