Thinking of tomorrow, Today...

Yet another article in the paper about the misuse of one of the government credit card programs by an employee. I was getting ready to type in that I don’t understand why it is that an employee would just abuse the government credit card by purchasing frivolous things that clearly don’t have anything to do with their job or responsibility. But is it really that different than one’s personal credit card? You whip out your credit card and make impulsive purchases that you clearly don’t really need, and can’t afford to pay for at the end of the billing month. Most people don’t think about the financial repercussions of their purchase until their bill comes in the mail. Even then, they don’t really have to think about it all that hard, because they have the option of making the minimum payment, which is much more affordable. They can just make that payment, file the bill away as being “paid”, charge up more items, and then start the whole cycle over again when the bill comes in the mail. It’s a great game of avoidance mixed with hide and seek. I don’t think those government employees thought that they’d get caught. I think they thought that their credit card bill was one of thousands, and they figured that they’d worry about it when the bill came at the end of the month.

Too bad credit card companies don’t send you daily statements by text-message or email that would remind you of where you stand today. If more people thought of their tomorrows… today… how different would their worlds be?

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