Hypothetically Speaking

The following is another segment for the CTG Writers Group’s HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING.

SCENARIO A:

You are on the commuter train heading to work. The annoying person sitting next to you is on their cell phone, chatting up a storm. You press your face against the window and attempt to tune them out.

But you hear her going on and on about how expensive her dream wedding is going to be, about how much the live band costs, how much extra they had to pay for the open bar with top shelf liquor, the caviar and lobster that they were going to serve, and how the guest list has grown from 300 to 450. She says that it is a good thing that she and her fiancé have been living frugally and saving for all of those years.

You cringe as you reluctantly listen and think about how you and your family are struggling financially. Your son needs to go to the dentist and your daughter needs glasses, but your job doesn’t provide health insurance. The property taxes on your house have gone up and you don’t have a clue how you are going to afford the higher mortgage payment.

The chatty passenger starts gathering her things. “I’m about to go pay the banquet hall this 50 grand now before I make my way to go taste the cakes at the bakery. My stop is coming up – I’ll talk to you later!” you hear her say. As she stands up and heads to the door, a bank envelope falls out of her bag. You pick it up. Inside it you see 10 crisp, $5,000 bills. You look up and see that she is almost at the door and the train is slowing down but still has not yet come to a full stop. You have about 20 seconds before she exits the train.

SCENARIO B: (changes in Red)

But you hear him going on and on about how much he has made today, and laughs at how rich he is getting between the stock market and selling people a bunch of stuff they really don’t need. He said he makes so much money, he can pay to take care of his wife and kids AND to put his mistress up in a nice penthouse apartment.

You cringe as you reluctantly listen, and think about how you and your family are struggling financially. Your son needs to go to the dentist and your daughter needs glasses, but your job doesn’t provide health insurance. The property taxes on your house have gone up, and you don’t have a clue how you are going to afford the higher mortgage payment.

The chatty passenger starts gathering his things. “I’m about to go to meet up with Lisa to buy her a brand new car, whatever she wants, with 50 grand in cash. Yeah, I have to do it that way so there is no paper trail for Tracy to find out. My stop is coming up – I’ll talk to you later!” you hear him say. As he stands up and heads to the door, a bank envelope falls out of his jacket pocket. You pick it up. Inside it you see 10 crisp, $5,000 bills. You look up and see that he is almost at the door and the train is slowing down but still has not yet come to a full stop. You have about 20 seconds before he exits the train.