The Things I Love Not Having

We should absolutely be thankful of the things we have. But not every *thing* is everyone's cup of tea. What some people enjoy, others hate. And that's fine. Heck, society is basically just a tacit "you do you and I'll do me".*

What some people choose to have absolutely boggles me. And from my understanding, it appears that my stance equally boggles others. So, here's why I love not having these items that others seem to like.

1: A House

As you can probably tell from a former article, one of the things I am not crazy about is home ownership. And the reasons aren't just financial. One of the great things of apartment living is that you don't have to deal with the headaches that come along with homeownership. Things that, by not having to do, frees you up to do more with your time. Like have a blog or something. I dunno.

1(a): A Front Lawn

I grew up mowing lawns. First, I would mow my family's house lawn. Then I would mow my grandmother's lawn. Then, I would go out with a friend of mine and we'd get paid to mow people's lawns (and didn't do too bad if I do say so myself).

Mowing lawns sucks. You get grass into clothes that otherwise would be nice. You have to be careful not to run over rocks or you could take out a window or something. And then you have to use another contraption to get the edges just right that flicks dirt in your face.

I like not having a lawn.

1(b): A Backyard

See 1(a). Now multiply that by how much bigger backyards are compared to a front yard.

Pictured: It's not like you can even eat the stuff. WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE THESE?

1(c): Plumbing, Electrical Work, Air Conditioning

Now, don't get me wrong. I love having these things. It's fantastic. But I love not owning these things. I like the fact that, if my plumbing gives out, it's not just my problem.

1(d): A Swimming Pool

Assisting with my father's business, I also fixed a lot of swimming pools.

Pictured: If you enjoyed the pool at the Holiday Inn Express in my hometown between 2010 and 2012: You're Welcome.

Private home pools never seemed to make sense financially. Working on these with my father's business meant I also saw the invoices. And people would typically only use them a few times each summer. It felt like, once you multiplied out the costs, you could have so much more fun just spending that on a vacation or something. And you could get your swimming in there!

1(e): A Basement

Creepy. Always damp. Potential structural flaws. I guess nice if you want to put in a wine cellar or something but most of the basements I've seen are filled with random furniture and other detritus.

2: A Car

My problem with cars is like my problem with houses but smaller. Always something going wrong that you need to fix. Except this time, you probably don't know how. It doesn't really matter if you know cars or not; they are so locked down and computerized now that you can't do simple things yourself even if you know how to do them!

3: A Small Business

I like working for businesses rather than owning one.

I come from an entrepreneurial family. Both my parents had their own businesses as well as each set of grandparents. And each of them can tell you that, at the end of the day, the buck stops with them. They are the person that has to make sure payroll happens. They are the one the client calls and blames if someone does a crappy job. They have to pay double taxes as they are their own employer. Speaking of taxes, those are really annoying once you have a business (or really expensive if you have to pay someone else to do it).

Seems like hassle I'm happy to let business owners have.

Pictured: I'm talking about small businesses here. Once you get large enough, you can push the soul-breaking work onto your staff.

And a lot do (unfortunately).

4: A Gun

I don't necessarily hate guns. I think part of that stems from the fact that I grew up on a ranch where knowing how to use them was genuinely important. If there is a coyote that wants to bite you just for funzies and EMS is an hour away, there is a genuine need there.

Now I live in New York City. I don't need one any more. It's nice not having to carry one and be worried about gun safety all the time. Here's how I see it: If you ever get into a situation with someone and it turns ugly, the fact that you are armed immediately destroys any benefits of doubt you would be given.

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If you like to own any of these items, more power to you. But I'm happy without.

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* A bit of a tangent, but if you look at society like that, it gives a good illustration of what "economics" is all about. If society is this agreement to do our own thing, economics distributes the things that people make to the people who want them the most. Well, that's what it's supposed to do in theory. As you probably know, it doesn't always work out like that. Externalities and scarcity and classes and ... well you get the idea. Tangent over.