Owning Your Favourite Things Ends Up Owning You
In the spirit of cheap weekend, my sons wanted to attend a tuned Japanese car gathering. It is an event where car owners show their tuned and modified Japanese cars. Imagine a car gathering scene from the move franchise Fast and Furious without racing and scantily clad girls.
We had a good time checking out the cars and taking pictures. Over lunch, we talked about our favourite and searched the net on the cost of ownership. We were all surprised by the maintenance and parts price. The cars were "affordable" but the cost of ownership is not.
Owning our favourite things ends up owning us. We calculated how hard we have to work and the sacrifice that we have to endure in order to have what we want. I explained our cost of living and the concept of opportunity cost to my sons. The purpose is not to frighten them but to let them understand the reality of life. Certain things are best to admire from afar and not owning it.
What did my sons think? They still love cars and still want to own their dream cars. I am happy that they have such dreams as they are now willing to work hard towards it.