NASCAR Provides Relief During A Taxing Time
Guest Column By Cathy Elliott
Wouldn’t it be great if the IRS operated more like NASCAR?
When expending a certain amount of angst, effort or both, it seems only right and natural to expect some sort of a payoff in return. This is never more evident than during (and before, and after) tax season, which for most of us has just concluded its annual fusillade of frustration.
I read somewhere recently that from January 1 through May 10, we work for the IRS. The rest of the year, we work for ourselves, meaning that about 30 percent of our $30,000, which is roughly the average American’s income, goes to the government.
From May 11 through the end of the year, you are generously allowed to keep what you earn for yourself.
We all work just as hard from January 1 through May 10 as we do from May 11 until the end of the year. But where’s the reward for crossing the finish line? Where’s the dessert at the end of the meal?
In the best example of “getting what’s coming to you,” some Americans do receive refund checks from the IRS. In most cases, however, all that hard-earned money just keeps on headed in the wrong direction – away from the folks who worked so hard to earn it in the first place.
I consider this unfair. Don’t you want some reward (and some butterscotch sauce and a maraschino cherry) to follow your labor? We may all have to sit through two hours of the equivalent of a 1980s retro endurance test when attending George Michael’s concert tour this summer, but knowing we’ll probably hear “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” at the end somehow makes it all worthwhile.
This is not a political statement. Someone has to pay the bills and make it possible to keep the government up and running, and I guess that job falls to you and me. Still, I can’t help myself; I continue to wait for my year-end party, my well-defined triceps after all those sweaty hours at the gym. I want my payoff.
NASCAR gives me all these things.
It is human nature to invest wholeheartedly into things we consider necessary, important or interesting. The definition of these categories may vary from person to person, but they usually boil down to work, family and fun.
And many people take their fun just as seriously as their work, if not more so. NASCAR fans are a stellar example of this principle in action. Very fast action.
The Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holidays provide a diversion during the weeks when the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck series are not actually competing. A statement like, “It’ll be nice to have a little break” uttered in mid-November, however, quickly evolves into a question in early December: How many more weeks until Daytona?
On January 1, the new year fires up its engines in earnest as we start focusing our time and attention on the upcoming season. In other words, we go to work. The sport gives us a wealth of early information on drivers, teams, sponsors and paint schemes. We give back our part – sometimes a sizable one – in the form of things like race tickets, travel arrangements and new merchandise purchases. (In 2008, many of these may have been emblazoned with the number 88. Just by way of example, of course.)
This outflow of support extends far beyond the first four months of the season. It literally never ends. As with governmental military spending or foreign trade policies, we may not always be completely happy with the result of our expenditures (i.e. the “wrong” guy wins the race), but prevailing opinion holds that the end can justify the means. Conduct a straw poll the first time that aforementioned number 88 concludes the day in Victory Lane if you don’t believe me.
After reaping the benefits of all these cool bonuses along the way, the generous refund check at the end, of course, is the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup competition and the ultimate crowning of a champion.
(And yes, even those ripped triceps are possible, thanks to various hoisting or lifting activities, ranging from 12 ounces to 12 pounds or more. These are best left specified by each fan’s individual workout routine.)
NASCAR goes to work, and we pay them to do it. In essence, we also go to work for them, and in the end they give us exactly what we want and pay us back many times over. With very rare exceptions, we consider our expenditures, of time or money or whatever they may be, worth every penny. We feel rewarded. We are happy.
What a concept; maybe the government should consider it.
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