In or Out

“In or out? Make up your mind. We ain’t heating the streets.” Choices. Of old. Of new. In the closet? Out of the closet? Out is much better. In is likely safer. Some came out and ran right back in. Sad that in is safer. Out is…well, out there. It’s crazy out there. It’s cold and lonely out there. It’s hard out there.

I used to be in. Way in. In denial. Insane. In deep. Income generating, credit card yielding, IRA believing, can always make more money, get it now, pay for it later, man about town. Inside the system. Inside the beast. Inside where consumption is king. Inside where the Jones are so far behind they must live in a third world nation. In the groove. With the In crowd. Inside. Safe. Under the arches. Over the rainbow. In and out of In and Out Burger with a Double, Double, animal style. Instant breakfast. Instant coffee. Not! Into Starbucks for one of the chinos with an extra shot then into Eddie Bauer’s and out to see the latest release. In and then in deeper. Into debt. Out of any concept of consequences and responsibility. In love with spending what I did not have for what I wanted when I wanted it. Just in case. Just because. Just insane.

Chasing the dream. Living the dream. In hot pursuit. Button, button, who’s got the latest button? Button hooks. Button down. Button up. Batten down the hatches. It’s sales. Sell, sell, sell. Big sales. Every thing must go. Selling. Buying. Selling. Sex sells. Get to the bottom line. It’s all about the bottom line. The haves versus the have not yets. The Hatfields and McCoys. The Real McCoys. The Real Deal. Top of the line. Top Hats and Tails. Tuxedo Junction. Tennessee Tuxedo. Odie Cologne. Ragland T Tiger and Crusader Rabbit. Draw your swords. May the best man win. Who’s the best man? Glengarry Glen Ross. Wall Street. Greed is good. Save for a rainy day? Not! You gotta spend money to make money. What have you done for me lately? No nibbling around the edges. Head right for the margins, target the yield, and sell short. Bonuses are earned. Pay to win. Play for keeps. Ride em, Cowboy. Stocks and bonds and bound for glory. Button, Button, Who’s got the button? Is it an inny or an outty? Inny versus Outty. Audi versus BMW. Seen the new Roadster? Gotta have one. What’s it gonna take to put you in this Roadster today?

Now I am out. Out of the insanity. Out of denial. In recovery. Out for Financial Freedom. I am a freedom fighter. Fighting the fallout of my own insanity for my truest and forever freedom. Free to be me. Free from the place where the only choice is more. Out of the beast I fed that now seems out for itself. Dealing with the external forces that call themselves Internal Revenue Service. Servants of the kingdom on my own making. Inside that machine. Inside those large buildings and mazes of codes where no one really knows what goes where, who does what, and who “they” really are. The place where “they” hide and decide what “they” must do to pay for what “they” already did and continue to do. They tax me. They drain me. They use to confuse and almost conquered me. Then I came out of the closet. Out of that fun house built on the river of denial and riddled by the cancer of consumption that fuels justification for actions that defy truth, justice, and the American way. Into the phone booth I go and out comes my cape that is really a towel. Here, I come to save the day! Mighty Mouth is on his way!

My pen is my sword. My wallet is closed. My back account is drained. I live my truth. It is not income tax. It is Outcome Tax. The Outcome of what I have done. What I fed, let happen, did, bought into…fill in your own blank. It will take months. More likely a few years. One for each decade of consumption and irresponsibility if my hunch is right and my hunches are right more and more. One year to pay for each decade is a small price to save my world. I shall pay that price. The Price Is Right. Time to deal with it. Time for me to do the right thing. Less is really more. A lot more. Less income, More outcome. Less spending, More responsibility. Less consumption, More sharing. Is you in or is you out? Make up your mind, Close the door. Get out of that closet. We’ll have a gay old time. We ain’t global warming the world anymore.