Red eye flights are good for a couple of things, the pace is a little less hectic and since you are up well into the night you have extra time to reflect on those important questions in life. No one really wants to talk to you, no fellow traveler is trying to create polite conversation. You are left alone to doze and if unable you have solitude which for me always forces my mind to drift. Tonight, is one of those, it’s a 12:59 AM flight from Denver to Atlanta. In less than 3 hours we will be in Atlanta picking up a rental car. Because of time zones we will arrive just in time to begin the rush hour north into the city. But for now, I set here with my last cup of coffee for the day, or is it the first one of the morning? I put that question aside, while I await boarding pondering life’s important questions in a relatively quiet terminal setting in a chair that I believe is less comfortable than the one assigned to me. My seat is 33C. Pondering philosophically I start pulling a thread…My seat?
I realized tonight that I rent lots of things in life. Starting with 33C. While that is my seat, I will vacate it for someone else to use in a few hours. I don’t own it, its not mine. I can’t remodel the space. There is no permit for knocking out an arm rest or changing the angle of the recline of my seat to something that would allow me to sleep a little before facing Atlanta traffic. The price of this uncomfortable seat and all the others I have had to “rent” over the years, added together is still far cheaper that me owning a plane that I could retrofit. I tug on that thread.
I own a house, couple cars, and many other possessions some of which I am lugging through the airport tonight. I also rent a few things, a storage shed, the car I’ll pick up with just a couple hours sleep. Many subscriptions I have are replacements for owning, Apple Music has long replaced my albums, 8 tracks, cassettes. and CD’s. Today I rent my music, miss a payment or two and Apple will prove to me that my playlist is not mine regardless of how personal I believe my choices to be. Most of these rentals are by far cheaper or offer value I couldn’t afford either in time or money. Just my playlist is daunting, I could have never accumulated the eclectic collection and the quality served to me if I had to return to taping songs from the radio. I tug again.
The car I will be using in a few hours I am renting, that seemed cheaper and more efficient than buying a vehicle, using it for a few days then selling. This is from a guy that has actually purchased a vehicle over the phone so his wife could get home without me making a 9-hour round trip drive. I thought at worst I could sell that vehicle with less loss than a round trip… and it was a jeep. Today that vehicle is counted with my possessions. I didn’t sell it, but still claim the savings. Each year though I am remined that the state thinks I am renting my vehicles from them. I did debate the idea of using Uber for this trip over renting a car, which likely would have been cheaper still but the value seemed worth the difference to me. Who doesn’t want a nearly new, washed car setting in the driveway?
I can’t say buying a home is a bad choice, for many their home is the largest investment they make and has a huge impact to most family’s net worth. Owning a home has been good for us. Yet, having just paid our annual tax and insurance bills two short months after replacing the heater and air-conditioner I would have been better off renting this year. I am not a financial advisor lauding the wealth building effect of buying nor would I say you shouldn’t rent… It just depends on too many things. I have rented tools I wished I had bought and bought tools I wish I had rented. I have rented suits I wish I had bought and that leisure suit I should have rented. However, as I contemplate the idea of renting, I see it a little differently in the wee hours of the morning. I pull a little harder on the thread…
Likely what started this thought was the fact that I did a rare thing for this trip, I paid for the insurance on the rental car, Clark Howard would not be happy with me. I hit a deer this last week with our personal car and I had the haunting fear of another wreck in a rental. I was risk adverse this week and wanted a little extra peace of mind. These guys that rent you stuff seem to want in returned in good order. Tools should still be in one piece and cleaned up, Thrifty Rental expects their cars to be returned without added dings and dents, and full of gas. Even Delta will ask me to stow the tray tables and return my seat to its upright position. Today I paid $44 for a little extra protection, caring for something I am only renting. I tug again.
I’ll return my car to Thrifty, I will surrender my seat to Delta, I will leave my home to someone else, any money left in the bank will not be mine. Others will be warmed or cooled by my new HVAC. The Jeep that speeds more time parked than driven will be driven by someone else. All the stuff I claim as mine I will surrender someday not unlike 33C, including this life. Thinking tonight I need to consider the condition in which it will be returned.
“you are not your own, you were bought at a price”
