Post Holiday Financial Crisis

That being said, I can assume that you are right now in my position, having spent all the money you did have getting sucked into the consumer frenzy of buying gifts for family and barely making rent.

Or maybe you're not. Possibly you're part of this culture that has a steady, ample income and you feel no sense of uncomfortability (apparently that's not a word, but I'd like to allow it here) during this time of year. If you are, please let me show you my view.

Let me say off the bat that I am a hater of the consumerism that commences after Thanksgiving. I know this isn't unusual, but I just want to be clear.

Literally every form of media is telling you that you need to go out and spend money on expensive things that you don't really need.

The term "Black Sunday" says it all. I didn't realize this until recently, but that term refers to the fact that retailers finally go from the red into the black in terms of profits for the year on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Therefore, the entire year up until now, people sell things that other people either can't afford to buy or don't need. Then, at the very end of the year, we're all socially pressured to spend all that money that we've been refraining from spending for the sake of whichever holiday we celebrate.

I believe that full time employees at UPenn get paid this Friday, seeing as they got that time as paid vacation. Being part time, however, I do not. The campus pretty much shut down from Dec. 21 to Jan. 2.

At the time I write this, I just spent my first day back at work and my last $8 at the super market on food that needs to last me a week and a day.

The last time I was in this predicament I was down to $5 for a week's worth of food. At that time, I spent thusly: Three cans of tuna fish and four boxes of Macaroni and Cheese.

I feel that I did better this time, though, and I also had that extra $3 to get me along. My purchase this time around: A cheap loaf of bread, half pound of turkey, quarter pound of provolone, a box of crackers, a box of rice and a can of beans. A sign of maturity, perhaps?

I made a cup of rice with the can of beans along with some salt, pepper, chili powder and hot sauce. That should be good for about three meals.

In the cupboard I had a can of chick peas that I had been meaning to make into hummus for about a month now but hadn't gotten around to it. I finally broke out the blender and, finding some leftover oil, garlic, tahini and lemon, made hummus while the rice simmered.

My mom also sent me home with a big batch of her cheese and horseradish spread, to be shared among my housemates and myself. Those two things with the crackers should be a good supplement to the rice and beans during the week ahead.

And then for lunch every day, turkey and provolone. Maybe a banana here and there (25 cents at our fruit truck nearby) and of course any handouts along the way.

So it will be until I get paid next Friday.

Every time I get into this situation, it also tends to happen during a period when I'm hoping or expecting magic money in the mail. Sometimes it's a tax refund, sometimes money from my own research projects, and once a substantial check from freelancing.

And every time that money comes after I've already gotten through the crisis.

Now, I'm not trying to complain for the sake of complaining. I don't expect sympathy for any reason. I realize that I have for the most part chosen a lower income in order to pursue my other interests.

However I disagree with the notion that "the artist needs to pay dues and suffer to do what s/he loves." But that's how it works here in this consumer culture.

And once the artists start getting paid, they start getting lazy. And once they start getting lazy, they stop making good art.