Rick Barker | I Don’t See It

Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor
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I know this won’t be popular with a lot of my friends on either side of the political aisle, but I really don’t see this supposed financial hardship that we are continually told is rampant among large numbers of our fellow residents here in Santa Clarita. 

I am fortunate to be financially secure — but I also have no monthly bills beyond utilities and gas for my one and only vehicle, a 1997 Ford F-150 truck. I pay for most things with cash and I have one credit card that I pay off every month to avoid the large interest added to unpaid balances. It’s the way I was raised as my family didn’t have much money, my dad was an enlisted man in the Navy and he and my mom were children of the Depression and they always paid cash for everything, and if they didn’t have the cash we did without. We never went hungry, but we certainly ate a lot of leftovers and seldom ate out at a restaurant. 

I’m out and about in this area every day and I sure see a lot of brand new cars, trucks, motorcycles, motorhomes and trailers driving around, and when I go to the grocery store or Walmart the aisles are packed with people with carts full of prepackaged foods ($$$), booze ($$$), cookies, candies, etc. Lottery ticket sales get larger every year. I know people who spend hundreds every month buying those stupid things. 

And I also see tons of adults and kids wearing $200 and $300 sneakers and gabbing on or texting on equally expensive smartphones. 

Bottom line: I believe a lot of the supposed “hardships” people are experiencing are due far more to their chosen lifestyle than to the economy or the cost of living. 

Rick Barker 

Valencia

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