The Id Is In Constant Control

Joe Gibbs has a spending problem. Joe works many hours each week, and makes a lot of money. But he couldn't keep that money in his pocket if someone had a gun to his head.

Since I have known Joe, he has always been a creature of impulses. As soon as he wants it, he needs to have it:

"Taco Bell? Need it right now!"
"The Sixth Sense on DVD? Need it right now!" (if you don't know the story behind this one, you're lucky)
"Bubblegum milkshake? Need it right now!"

And, of course, this behavior has continued during this Thanksgiving break.

Chris and I have been in a trance for the past month playing San Andreas. As per usual, a few nights ago, we did what we always do; sat in Joe's basement thinking of something we could do with our time. Joe, as always, wanted to play hockey on Xbox. Chris, as always, agreed. (ask Kristin, Liz, and Kathleen how much THAT goes on.) Myself not wanting to play hockey, went and got my PS2 and played GTA on another TV.

Joe started to get a tingle in his wallet.

As the night went on, phrases like "Oh baby food, that is an awesome game!" became more frequent. I finally let him play for a while, and he ran around for 20 minutes avoiding the cops. He had a distinct twinkle in his eye. A twinkle that means the economy is about to get a boost. As Chris and I left, we heard from downstairs, "Now what do I have that I can sell?"

In the car home, me and Chris made guesses on when Joe Gibbs would have a new PS2 and GTA in his hands. We agreed if not the next day, then on Black Friday.

Less then 15 hours later, we all found ourselves standing in line at GameStop, Joe with his broken PS2 and around 20 old games, waiting to trade them in. Joe surprisingly got $35 for a broken PlayStation, and $65 for all the games.

So Joe was thrilled when he rationalized that he got a new, skinny PS2 and GTA for only $100.

I have the theory that Joe is allergic to money. Maybe something in the ink. Everytime he gets a nice paycheck or has some extra cash saved up he has to spend it. And he has to spend it now. It doesn't matter what it is on. Every whim is fulfilled. Just ask him where his $40 lighter is, or how his $800 skis and boots are doing.

He gets so caught up in the moment. I personally don't think he'll ever beat GTA. He'll play it to the point where you can have all the vehicles and planes and everything, and he'll just run from the cops for hours.

And you don't even want to know the amount of lying that goes into a purchase like this. Let's just say Joe got caught in two lies in one day, all over this game. Liz was not a happy camper.

Was it all worth it? As Joe Gibbs would say:

"Whatever food, I got a tiny PlayStation jones!"