Jordan's Blog

I recently read Yousuf’s blog post titled Ferrari and BMW seized: Justice or Jealousy?, meaning I read it just seconds before posting this. He asks these questions,

Would the government have made it public that they were selling these cars if it were a Toyota instead of a Ferrari? Does the brand of Ferrari and BMW make this news, or is it really because the government genuinely wants to punish these drivers?

Well, in my opinion, what makes this news is the brands Ferrari and BMW, but also the governments’ goal of punishing drivers driving excessive speeds. First off, if it was a Toyota, it probably wouldn’t make the news. Nobody really wants to hear that the government is cracking down on excessive speeding unless the car exudes speed. In most cases, a Toyota make car doesn’t speak speed, or high value. However, when you mention a Ferrari, to most people, Ferrari=speed and a very expensive car.

If it wasn’t for the government, there would be no news. The government did a great job in choosing when to make people aware of this law/legislation. Have a big ticket item to attract people’s attention. I think the job of the government, here, was to set an example. They went and served justice to the rich guy, showing that everyone is fair game. No special treatment to the wealthy and that they mean business. This draws not only the average BC citizen but also the wealthy who think driving at excessive speeds would be fun to try. A speeding ticket, no matter how large, isn’t going hit people where it hurts, right? But if take their car baby away from them, they probably won’t risk it.

I say “good on ya,” government. If you wanna race/speed, go drive on the Autobahn.

Today I read Moses’ blog post on post-purchase dissonance and got to thinking. Post-purchase dissonance hadn’t hit me for many years on certain items till now. The many products and services I have purchased in the past are haunting me now as a cash-strapped student. Who knew at the time of purchase that I would be in this situation years later.

Some things I purchased were for luxury reasons. Many would argue that you don’t need a car at age 16, yet I had one (it was legitimately mine, not my parents’). I had earned that luxury at the time for working hard and saving my money. So I paid insurance on that truck for 1, 2, 3 years and a bit. There goes over 3000 dollars spent on insurance. I probably spent another couple thousand on gas, another thousand for maintenance and I’m at a total of at least 6000 dollars.  Mind you, at those times, I did have the opportunity of having a bus pass paid for by my parents, but I chose to forgo that option. That resulted in me driving to school everyday for about a year and a half while I could have taken transit essentially for free.

Then I look at all the video games I have purchased over the years, many of which I played minimally; chalk up several hundred dollars for that. Maybe going to UBC as opposed to staying in Victoria and going to school there where my room and board is free. Then I don’t spend $6000+ on living expenses per year. Also, most of my friends are still in Victoria, so the opportunity to see them more frequently than a few times during the school year is forgone. The list goes on and on.

After all this, I got student loans which the need for would be obsolete with all the savings I could have had. If I could do it all over again, I would. It’s just too bad there is no time travel machine like in “Back to the Future” so that I could do it over. It’s not that I didn’t appreciate the luxuries while I had them, because I did. It’s the fact that I couldn’t afford to have those luxuries if I wanted the luxury of being debt free now. If only I had saved for a little longer.