Are You Sh*tting Me?

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It’s been a lot of fun in Groovyland lately.

Last week, Mrs. Groovy and I ventured up to Atlantic City to meet some New York relatives, particularly a 97-year-old aunt. And we had a blast. The casino we stayed at was a bit tired, but its staff—from the front desk people to the bartenders—was great. And the gaming area wasn’t nearly as smoky as I had feared. But most of all, we had a wonderful time catching up with family members. Mrs. Groovy and I have always considered ourselves extremely wealthy because of our respective families—it’s hard to imagine how either side could be more supportive, caring, or jovial—and our AC getaway only put an exclamation mark on that sentiment.

Anyway, the day after we returned to Groovy Ranch, Mrs. Groovy asked me to open my email and see if I got a credit card notification stating that a charge had been removed. Not wanting to catch the wrath of the lovely Mrs. Groovy, I dutifully complied, and lo and behold, I saw an email from MarketWatch. It wanted to know if it could reprint one of my posts. “Sure,” I thought to myself, “I haven’t been vilified by complete strangers in a while. Why not?” So I gave my consent and 20 minutes later a Groovy post was being featured on MarketWatch.

How was my Groovy post received? Very well. There were detractors, of course. But the detractors voiced their objections in a respectful manner. All in all, I would say supporters outnumbered detractors three to one. Here are some of the supportive comments that caught my eye.

Awesome article. Being 23 I immediately took offense to the title and read what I wanted or expected to see, “10 reasons you will NEVER be financially independent”. That right there is me being a victim and thinking everyone is out to get me. Great message and I look forward to hanging these on my wall.

—AJ Andresen

Thanks, Mr. Groovy – just sent this to my son, who is making many of the mistakes you mentioned. Maybe he’ll listen to you – I hope so! I’ll suggest he also check out your website. Keep up the good work – common-sense financial literacy is sadly missing in this rapacious capitalistic society of ours… thanks for such a ‘get your head screwed on straight’ piece.

—Abby I

I shared this with my 16-year-old son as it seems to help when the voice is not always my own. LOVED the mention of taking pride in whatever you do. So many people think entry-level work is beneath them. If you cannot do basic work well, who will hire you to do more serious things? Many good points here and though I do not agree with all of them, there is real-world education in reasonable disagreement. Bottom line, like the cashier, your life will be greatly influenced by the choices you make. While certainly not foolproof – or fool proof, as the case may be – the better your decisions, the better your likely outcome will be.

—RJ Baumgartner

Okay, my post went over surprisingly well on MarketWatch and then the weekend arrived. And the good times kept rolling. My nephew’s pee-wee football team the Bulldogs thrashed the dastardly Cowboys 21 to 7, we had an awesome game night with the gang, and on Labor Day, Mrs. Groovy and I stumbled upon an intriguing tiny-house community while we were exploring the neighboring town of Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

And now the pièce de résistance. I wake up Tuesday morning, fire up my laptop, and go to my favorite curation site for articles on economics and business, RealClearMarkets. And what do I see? I see that RealClearMarkets has picked up my MarketWatch post—and my ridiculous pen name is right above the name of Nobel Laureate and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. ARE YOU SH*TTING ME?!!!

In a sane world, the scribblings of Mr. Groovy would never come close to being associated with anything produced by Paul Krugman. But who am I to argue with the fickle finger of fate? If it wants to smile upon me—as it’s done relentlessly for over a week now—I’m just going to sit back and enjoy it. Peace.