photo courtesy Nico Hogg
I’ve blogged about this place before, but I just have to again. It has to do with our new Aaron’s store here in town. The subject here speaks to a lot more than just this particular store and this particular situation. It speaks much more to our culture in general these days and the reason so many are facing financial difficulties.I was driving by the Aaron’s store today and noticed a billboard sign they had out front. The sign advertised getting your tax refund done there. The final statement was “You Need It Now”. You need it now. They should make that their store motto, shouldn’t they? Isn’t that what that store exists for? Satisfying our instant need for gratification? We don’t want to save for it. We need it now. We don’t want to make due with what we have. We DESERVE nice things and we deserve them now.
Here is an entire store built to cater to that instant need. Not only will they sell you something terribly overpriced and on payments, but they’ll also take a large chunk of your tax return and give you the balance now so that you can buy some of that over priced product from them. If that won’t work for you, how about driving down the street to that place that will give you an advance on that paycheck you haven’t received yet? You need it now. Don’t wait until later.
I mean no ill intent to the people employed by Aaron’s but I am much more concerned about the many more who are imprisoned to a life of financial struggle by the Aaron’s philosophy. I would be thrilled to see this store go to an early demise.
We have got to get this thing turned around. We can’t continue to spend tomorrow’s money today. At some point it will be called into account. Remember what always follows the statement “buy now”. You will “pay later“. Unfortunately it will be with interest. If there is one thing you do need now, it’s discipline and accountability. Find it and then teach it to somebody else.