Who will pay the Piper?

It’s a rare day when the mail carrier goes by my mail box without stuffing it with junk mail, catalogs, circulars, sales notices, envelopes full of junk, unsolicited gifts from multiple sources, letters seeking donations for various causes. It never ends.

There are cards, calenders, notebooks, bookmarks, maps, you name it, along with my letters, bills, and other desired regular mail.

I seem to be on everyone’s sucker list — all of them seeking to sell merchandise, offer services, seeking money — until I almost feel desperate.

I was told it is because of my credit card.

That’s baloney because my late husband George and I got rid of our credit cards many years ago, before he went to meet his Maker. I have had no credit card for years, nor do I want any.

Credit cards are a good way to get into debt without realizing how far in debt you’ve sunk. As it is, I can look at my bank statement and know what I can afford and what I must wait to buy until I can afford it,

always holding back enough cash for that rainy day that always comes along. So, I must wait until I have enough ahead for the purchase without touching my rainy day safety amount.

This requires self discipline, a trait that seems to be in terribly short supply in today’s society, not to mention the cumulative effect it has when the entire country — politically, economically and personally — thinks nothing of racking up monumental debt.

This calls to mind the words of a song, “I want what I want when I want it,” which is probably the main reason for credit cards.

It is a way for impatient people to live beyond their means. They are more than willing to mortgage their futures for today’s gratification.

But the Piper must be paid and the time has come.

People who used credit to live beyond their means as well as the companies who lose out to bad creditors, the countries who borrowed too much, all of them find themselves out of funds.

So, I ask again, who pays the Piper?