Reality check time !  
A recent vestibule in Anthem Center was completed that cost us $75,000 !
...and it was rather disturbing in the 
manner in which the cost was justified amongst those in our community that are 
of the belief that money is spent  "like a drunken 
sailor".
....that spending less on an 
alternative option costing $8,000 for an air curtain, is "beneath" our 
standards...because we are a community that shouldn't bother with such trivial 
things when our "reputation" is at stake.
... that it would have forced certain 
status conscious members of our community to remove their raised noses from the 
clouds and breathe the same air that the rest of the peasant population is 
forced to endure ! 
...and that line of 
thought...
... is typical of something that most 
RESPONSIBLE people 
despise...
BIG 
GOVERNMENT
...government that spends money for one 
reason....
...because they have it to spend...
...rather than having a need for something to spend it on 
!
It's time to look in the mirror and 
realize a very important fact about seniors....
WE'RE PEOPLE 
LIKE EVERYONE ELSE...
...that we are NOT 
ENTITLED to anything other than what we put into this earth while making 
an attempt to make it a better place.
...that living in a community where 
most homes ranging in the $200,000 to $250,000 price category exist in a non-gated 
community...
... is not 
SHAGRILA...
...that it's middle class America !
...that an OVERWHELMING PERCENTAGE of 
Sun City Anthem residents are just "middle of the roaders" who were looking for 
a well maintained area in which to live out the rest of our lives....in 
peace...without poverty !
...not some "look at me" 
community where people who live outside it, look at us.. NOT 
WITH ENVY...
....but as "those 
seniors who have champagne tastes on beer 
budgets".
And believe me...I get out of here 
OFTEN enough to hear those words, not like some whose lives revolve around 
spending every waking moment walking around a large building, dinng at the same 
overpriced eatery, and believing they represent "the 
people".
There was a frightening set of 
statistics made public recently.....that in excess of 38% of 
seniors have less than $1,000 in a savings 
account...
...yet 
amazingly....
Still believe they are 
going to retire !
How is that possible? 
In their 
minds...
ONE 
WAY
... by believing they are 
"entitled" to it !
...that the federal government is 
supposed to provide those "wants"...despite neither having the funds to do 
so.
I spoke with an anonymous individual 
recently, who, at the age of 71, refinanced a home OVER 30 YEARS....that the attitude 
was...
...not a big 
deal, when I die, who cares what I owe?
WHO CARES 
WHAT I OWE WHEN I DIE?
How disgusting, I thought...and yet 
this attitude is becoming more and more prevalent in our society as the years 
pass.
What if OUR ANCESTORS would have thought 
that way...especially ones like mine who arrived in Ellis Island in the 1920s ?
So who is going to pay that 
debt?
OUR KIDS, THEIR KIDS, and THEIR 
KIDS.
And whose fault is this 
attitude?
OURS...THE ENTITLED 
GENERATION...
...THE ONES WHO TOOK THE PRINCIPLES 
INSTILLED IN US BY HARD WORKING PARENTS AND ANCESTORS....
....and those who have adopted this belief of "entitlement"....who have DESTROYED THEM in 
their "you owe me" attitudes !
That $75,000 for a vestibule is a 
perfect example of the waste that is now part of the ENTITLED GENERATION'S WAY 
OF THINKING.
A substantial number of people DO NOT 
USE the Anthem Center, and a simple SWEATER could have solved a 
problem...
...but...
... those who "keep their noses high enough in the air"....decided to 
spend $75,000 of an entire community's funds in order for a FEW to avoid having 
to buy that sweater.
...spending money based 
on  CARELESS WANT...not NEED.
Ever look at "self-made" people and the 
way they spend money?  They do so a lot differently than those who have been 
part of a system that has cared for them their entire working 
lives....
...they VALUE IT, and unlike so many 
others who criticize them for their wealth....REALIZE that there are NO 
GUARANTEES as to TOMORROW....
Whereas $1,100 in annual 
dues is looked upon by many as modest...perhaps knowing that sum PAID IN A 
SINGLE YEAR....exceeds the TOTAL SAVINGS of 38% of Americans wishing to 
retire...
...places all of this in 
its proper perspective.
...and that the values of our parents and ancestors  MUST BE PRESERVED, or,  in the words of Abraham 
Lincoln..
.
.
..this 
nation will "perish from this earth".
 

 
From Resident....Vegas Val...to Anthem Opinions
ReplyDeleteYour article today in Anthem Opinions was so “right on” that you are to be commended for adding sanity and what is right into the minds of those who feel that they are “owed” whatever it is they want!
From Resident Patsy McCarthy...to...Anthem Opinions
ReplyDeleteReally good posting today. I couldn't agree more.
I had to go over to the Spa this morning to pick up a gift certificate for my sister's birthday. This is the first time I have seen the new vestibule. Frankly, I can't believe it took $75,000 to build the thing! What a waste of our money just because a small number of people don't have the sense to bring a jacket or sweater during the few month of cooler weather. What do they wear from the house to the car and the car to the center????