You "Deserve" It

Lately I've been really hating the word deserve. As Christmas gets closer I am noticing it being used more and more:

• A commercial for a car dealership says they will take any old junker as a trade in, because "You deserve a nicer, newer car."
• A mail insert for a furniture store offers me low interest rates to help me get the furnishings I "deserve".
• A billboard for a bank offering holiday loans to "give your family the holiday they deserve."

All of these statements make me want to scream! Yes, it is really nice to have nice things, I get that. But to have the mentality that you deserve nice things, even if you can't afford them, means one of two things:

1. You are going to go into debt to get them.
2. You are expecting someone else to get them for you.

Going into debt for something as silly as a couch or a Christmas present is insane! And expecting someone else to get it for you is selfish! And at the end of the day a new couch isn't going to make you happier. You will be the same person with the same problems (maybe more problems, if you went into debt to get it!), just with a nicer place to sit. 

I'm going to step off my soapbox now and put Christmas music on Pandora and finish decorating the tree. After all this typing, I think I deserve it! ;)