The Writer’s Coin

I just read this piece on ESPN and I couldn’t believe it. Here was a couple that didn’t know how they would pay for their next mortgage payment and still they would not sell their season tickets to the Dodger games.

Huh?

I was shocked when I got to the end of it because it felt like the writer was trying to get across the nostalgia of the game, the friendships that evolve between regulars that attend game after game, and so on. I get all that.

But paying for season tickets when their home might get taken away? It just goes to show you that, in life, it’s not all about the math. In other words, money (and even security) isn’t always at the forefront of people’s minds.

You’d think with the economy the way it is and people nervous about losing their jobs that it would make sense to sell those tickets and put together a plan to save your house and not have such an unstable future.

But instead, this couple decides to keep going to games. They help defray the cost by doing a lot of work after the games, collecting cans and bottles to later take to a recycling center. It’s crazy, but that’s how they make it work.

I’m torn on this. Part of me wants to grab these people, scream at them and say, “Listen, I get it. Baseball is bigger than life. It can make you feel like nothing else can. I understand you. But you need to have a place to live before you can indulge in what is fast becoming a very expensive sport to be a fan of.

But another part of me understands. This is their passion. It fulfills them the way nothing else does. They’ve done if for so long and the bonds they’ve formed with the other regulars at games. This seems to be their “one thing” that they aren’t willing to give up.

The only way we can understand how they feel is for us to think of our own “one thing” and what it would take for us to give it up. For some it’s sports (either playing it or watching it) and for others it’s things like traveling, shopping, or books. Some of them are expensive and some of them aren’t.

I think my “one thing” would probably be writing. I’ve gotten to the point where I write for so many different reasons that I can’t imagine being forced not to do it. I’m lucky it’s inexpensive in terms of money, even though it’s highly demanding of your time. But still, the only thing that might threaten my “one thing” is lack of time, and you can always make time for things you love to do.

I’m just lucky that I don’t have to pay exorbitant amounts of money to do it. If I did, who knows how stupid my decisions might look to others, but I would probably do what it takes to keep it.

Tags: ESPN, foreclosure, mortgages, season tickets