It appears that I may unwittingly have been part of a game of chicken with my older brother when I laid out a plan for an extravagant family get together in and around Porto. Everything was planned and ready to go when he backed out with a lame excuse. When I suggested I'd go on my own to Oslo instead, he leapt on it, and so did my two other brothers.
The extravagant week in Portugal has been cancelled. Instead, I'm going to Oslo, where I'll stay with family. The cost of this is a fraction of what we'd be paying for the original plan. It's the frugal alternative, and probably the right choice given how prices of energy, food and other everyday expenses are likely to go up this winter.
This is not a good time to spend lavishly on luxuries, even for those who can afford it. However, there's another way to show off.
I have the luxury of time that I can waste in ways that others can only dream of.
My younger brother is a successful architect. As a consequence, he has plenty of cash available for consumption. But he has little time. He can't take a week off merely because he feels like it. That sort of luxury is reserved for my older brother and I. My twin brother is his own boss and almost as free to decide when to take time off.
That makes my architect brother the least free of us, and I'm rubbing his nose in this fact by taking 10 days in Oslo with no other plans than to stay with my parents and visit family and friends. However, I'm not making any big deal out of this. My reason for going isn't to show off. I'm not that petty minded.
I'm looking forward to my stay in Oslo. I haven't seen my parents or brothers in two years, and I'm curious to see how my adult children are doing. I also have some friends I'd like to see.
The social status aspect is merely an aside. It's nice to know that I have at least some things that my brothers may envy.
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| Wasting time on my balcony |
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