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Sharing the Cost, Sharing the Pleasure |
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by Kevin Gibbons
I read an amazing article in the September 2008 edition of Reader's Digest. It was a selection from the book, "The Necklace: Thirteen Women and the Experience that Transformed their Lives," by Cheryl Jarvis. I won't quote the whole piece, but the gist of the article was that a lady fell in love with a $37,000 diamond necklace that she knew she could not afford. When it went on sale for $22,000, she knew she still could not afford it, but thought "I can afford $1,000. What if I find 21 friends?" Eventually, she talked the store down to $12,000 and found 11 friends to go in on the deal. Each friend would get the necklace for one month, plus special occasions. They would split the cost of insurance and they would all get together once a month to exchange the necklace and hear about the adventures and experiences each of them had.
Now, you may not want to spend $1,000 on a necklace that you only get to wear one month out of the year, but aren't there other things that you would really like to have, but don't need to use all the time? Things that you could co-share with your friends, that you could not afford otherwise? I have done similar things with some specialty tools, tools that my friends and I don't need to use very often, but when we need them, it sure makes life easier. (How often does one person really need a tile saw? I certainly don't plan to make a career out of remodeling bathrooms.) As I look around my house and see a bunch of things that I thought would really be useful, but that I only use occasionally (especially some of the rather esoteric cooking equipment I have), that article inspires me to think before I purchase. Sharing the cost, sharing stories about the experience of enjoying an item I could not afford otherwise, plus having an excuse to get together with friends. What could be better?
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