AP reports that just after midnight, a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a bandanna across his face entered a Papa John’s restaurant in Helena, Montana and handed the clerk a note demanding money.
photo by Dogs New Clothes
The cashier started to comply, but then the man started crying and told the clerk he was just trying to provide for his wife and family.
The clerk talked with him for a few minutes and offered to make the would-be thief a pizza and some chicken wings.
How sad is that? “Desperate times calls for desperate measures.” “The end justifies the means” Do you subscribe to this thinking? I think Machiavelli got the later statement wrong. Originally advice for a Monarchical Prince, a lot of people, from its origin in the 18th Century to today, justify their actions by referring to this idiom.
While the story of the man attempting to rob a pizza joint in order to provide for his family is tragic by its own but to justify his actions is equally concerning. Many people contend, often our government also, that morally (and legally) wrong actions are sometimes necessary to achieve morally right outcomes.
With the extended decline in the economy, many people are finding themselves faced with this conundrum. Families desperate, facing economic hardships, feel like they have no alternative but to resort to crime to survive. What would you do? What could you have done to protect ourselves?
Many of us are conscious of the bad economy, but most think it has occurred due to reasons beyond our control and we are not to blame for it. There’s truth to this however, if our financial defensives would have been stronger, our financial shield would have protected us from these attacks.
A bad economy may be beyond our control, but we can still have some control over things so that the impact is not too bad on us. The following are a few things to concentrate on.
Change the way you think. Often mismanagement of money is due to looking at things the wrong way. If you can change your attitude toward managing money you will be on the path to securing your financial future. Think of ways to improve your finances and make it grow, you’ll be more financially secure. If you are working now, don’t take it for granted, your job could be gone tomorrow.
Aim for the target. Do you have a budget? If so great, but do you have set targets to shoot for each month? Make savings or debt reduction monthly goals and strive to accomplish them each month.
Stop the debt. This should go without saying but do not incur any new debt. A great info-graphic from Billshrink ,tracking personal savings rates from 1959 to 2009, shows that we are at an all-time low for personal savings and consumer debt is at its highest. Every bank and financial institution wants to make you their customer, don’t be a slave to debt.
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