Tag: Debt

  • Short Story Review: “Minimum Payment Due” by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh

    (The short story “Minimum Payment Due” by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh appeared in the November 25th, 2024 issue of The New Yorker.)

    Illustration by Hannah K. Lee

    If there is one issue that no one talks about, but is shaping the future of America in profound ways; it is debt. Student loans, medical bills, car loans, mortgages, and especially, credit cards. Having debt was unthinkable to my grandparents, as that was a sign of a type of moral failure, as you lacked the ability to live within your means. Now, everyone has some form of debt, and the way it’s going, our collective debt is only going to get bigger. “Minimum Payment Due” by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh deals with debt, and the shame and frustration that comes with it. The story also explores the desire for solutions, and faith that resolutions are out there.

    Overly Simple Synopsys: A guy has way too much credit card debt, and can’t get out from under it. He looks for relief in self-help books, therapy, and in the end, an old friend from high school invites him to a “graduation” with an unexpected outcome.

    What really worked for me was the protagonist, and how he found himself in his debt, and how he looked for ways out of it. Oh, the narrator is completely unreliable, as he cannot seem to stop lying to everyone else, including himself, so I see no reason why he would tell us the truth. And I think that plays to the shame that comes with debt. There is also an element that this debt is a form of addiction for the narrator, as he just cannot stop spending money, looking for a purchase that will make him feel better, but only leads him to spend more money. And that’s what I liked most about this story, how it very subtly parallel debt and addiction. I felt that Saïd Sayrafiezadeh was making a very good point that capitalism and consumerism lead to debt addictions in some people, leaving them feeling vacant, thus looking for someone or something to deliver them from their crisis.

    Unfortunately, I had issues with the ending of the piece. It was the whole final section where the narrator goes to his friends “graduation.” I wasn’t sure what point was trying to be made. That debt is just a cycle that repeats over and over again. Or that people in debt have to admit that they are powerless against it, like in AA. Or was the narrator just a cynical person who never had the intention of solving his issues. I feel the point was to be ambiguous, letting the reader decide, but it left me feeling frustrated. Did the narrator learn anything? Does the narrator want to learn anything? Either thought left the story feeling incomplete.

    All in all, I have to say that I did enjoy the piece, with one clear exception. I have said this several times of late when it comes to New Yorker stories, but this one felt like it was the first chapter of a book, or at least a much larger story. I hope that’s what it is, because I would be curious to read that book.

  • Distracted Today

    I set a schedule for myself and I try to stick to it. Wednesday is the one day of the week that is all my own. I don’t have any chores to take care of, no obligations to the family other than dropping off and picking the kid up from school. Wednesday is the day that I read short stories, write a review of one, and then work on my other writing.

    But not today.

    Everything has felt a little off.

    It started like normal. Got the family up, kid off to school, and went to the gym. Got home, settled in on the couch with a coffee, and started making the rounds of reading short fiction online, and in magazines. And I read for two hours, about 8 different stories, but my mind kept pulling me out of what I was doing. I was having trouble focusing, you know, just an overall difficulty at completing the simple task of reading, and thinking about what I had just read.

    It was a malaise that was coming over and around me. I was doing something for myself, that I enjoy doing, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I should be doing something else. Something practical. Reading this morning started to feel like I was hiding out, avoiding, procrastinating away from what I should really be doing with my time.

    My mind wanted me to think about money and finances.

    We have a plan, which we have stuck to, but we hit a rough patch yesterday. Surprise medical bills, which delays our ability to pay down the debt. There is a chance that things could improve, but for the improvement to happen, I need to get a job.

    And that’s what is gnawing at me today; should I really be sitting around on the couch reading? Should I write a blog, when I should be updating my resume, searching Indeed?

    Clearly, I opted for the blog. I mean, I’m going to look for a job after lunch, and then get back to reading.

  • I’m a Beta Tester

    I mentioned a while ago about the Biden/Harris Student Loan Forgiveness stuff, and how I feel about it. If you didn’t read that post, (don’t blame you – it wasn’t my best) I am for the program, while also admitting fully that this Forgiveness doesn’t address any of the underlining issues of the unaffordability of college. For me, I view this as a first step to correcting those issues, and I know full well that there are people who will not agree with me on this. Some disagree so much that they are trying to sue the Biden/Harris Administration over this program

    This Saturday, I received an email from StudentAid.gov informing me that I had been selected to be a Beta Tester for the application process. I wouldn’t say that I felt honored to receive this email, because something in my gut told me that everyone got this email. Or, just about everyone got this email. Either way, I filled out the form on Sunday morning, submitted and received a confirmation email in less than two minutes.

    Now I wait and see.

    Yet, I’ll believe it when it happens. As mentioned above, I know that several states are suing this program, and from what I read, most likely will fail in stopping the forgiveness, but will delay the roll out. (For the party that is overwhelmingly Pro-Christian values, I find it odd that they always go out of their way to stop any form of forgiveness – debt, wrongful imprisonment, drug convictions) I know, also, that StudentAid.gov has lead me to believe that I qualify for the program. I even checked Nelnet again, and they told me that my loan starts with the correct letter code, so that my loan qualifies.

    But I still don’t believe it.

    I know it has to do with feeling like I was taken advantage of when I went to college. I had a strange and winding path to university education. When I graduated high school, I went to college right away, but after two years I dropped out. My parents told me that if I stay in school, they would pay for it, but if I left and wanted to go back, I was on my own. And they held to that. I was out of school for four years, and then I decided that I wanted to go back, which meant that the financial burden was on my shoulders. AND, I was going back to school to be a theatre major, so I really knew what I was getting myself into. So, I never felt like the loan took advantage of me; that was my responsibility.

    It was the cost of tuition.

    My father went to a state public university in 1964, and he paid $20 a quarter for a full load of classes. In 2001, I was paying $2,000 a semester for a full load of classes at my state public university. (And I remember thinking that two grand was an affordable amount to pay.) If you adjust for inflation, then the $20 my Dad payed in 1964, would have cost $141 in 2001. (Today, it’s $191.) And that has always been my question; How did the cost of a college education go from $20 to $2,000, when it should have cost me a little over $141?

    I have never received or read a straight, logical answer of why. Some claim that inflation, some say it’s the government cutting support, some say it’s competition between schools, other say that colleges have become more like resorts that schools, others say that colleges are overloaded with administrators and executives.

    I had a sociologist professor tell us that the reason school became so expensive is because capitalist doctrine invade universities. She said that in the old days, universities put education, and student quality first, and as long as the institution broke even, no one cared. Then, she said, after the late 60’s when students protested on campuses, universities started bringing in private sector CEO to run their schools, with the idea that these CEO’s would bring order, and efficiency. What we got was college education turned into another American capitalist industry. The new generation of university leaders wanted to make money, so they raised tuitions, and accepted just about everybody who wanted to go to college. These leaders couldn’t get bonuses and stocks, but they could get huge salaries, as long as that endowment kept growing.

    Is that the truth? I don’t know because I have never seen anything verify that theory. But, I never seen or heard anything yet explain how we go to this complete unaffordability of a college education. I’m open to suggestions.

    For now, I will gladly accept my loan being forgiven, but like I said earlier, I’ll believe it when I see it.

    (I see you over there. Don’t be ashamed of your curiosity – embrace it! The easiest way to do that would be giving a like, a share, or a comment to this blog. Even following it will release a great amount of exuberance in you. Trust me!)