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Echoes from the pocket

The word “pocket” connotes different meanings. Notably, some dictionaries describe it as “a small bag for carrying things in, made of cloth and sewn into the inside or onto the outside of a piece of clothing” and also, as “a container, usually made of cloth that is sewn into or onto a bag or attached to a seat or door in a vehicle”.

And what about the definition that talks about pocket as “one of several holes around the edge of a billiard or snooker table into which balls are hit?” Well, l am sure snooker fans would love this definition too.

However, my interest in “pocket” is limited to the “informal” definition that we have come to associate it with. I am referring to the use of pocket to refer to the amount of money that someone has for spending. 

For instance, often times, we hear expressions like “You need deep pockets if you are involved in a long law suit”. Simply, you need a lot of money if you are to last the distance. 

Intriguingly, we associate more with the pocket and cash relationship, to the extent that even the one who has had limited exposure to formal education in the classroom would easily understand when you say you “needed pocket money” to survive a day.

So the pocket speaks to us, or gives off some echoes, just as the walls throw back the echoes of our footsteps sometimes. And, plainly, what this means is that there is a sound, or sounds caused by the reflection of sound waves from a surface back to the listener, which is none of the person’s doing.

So, as a further explanation, under some circumstances, you get back a faint echo of your shout; a reverberation after the original sound had stopped.

It is a similar throwback that you get when your pocket speaks to you. When your pocket is dry and, therefore, you don’t have that “pocket money” to survive a day, the effect is felt many days after when nothing is done about it. 

There is always the reminder of your state of financial affairs when there is the need to make a payment for a good or service and you are unable to do so.

Echoes from the pocket, sometimes, is an admonition to change job or change the course of your direction just as your bank account is only a reflection of yesterday’s decisions and not the reflection of the future.

To be able to understand the wisdom from the pocket, you need to have a clear understanding or a true meaning of money. 

It is very true that generationally we have been made aware of the “evil” that sometimes associates with money. The love of money, so Saint Paul told Timothy, is the root of all evil. Literally, taken out of context by some Christians, it means that most of us are evil because most of us love money!

But the difference is clear. The “love” of money by most is a special kind of love; most of us love money for what it can get us. 

We love or at least like money because money gets us what we want, and even though it cannot buy happiness, it can assuage the pain of unhappiness.

Studies conducted over the years have shown how the lack of money in the pocket can affect the state of mind of most people. 

Many today are on anti-depressant tablets and undergoing all kinds of treatments in psychiatric hospitals because of the state of their finances that have affected their state of mind.

Indeed, governments recognise this too. Many of the developmental projects experienced in all countries are, in a way, to create the enabling social platform that would ensure the minimum available funds in people’s pocket. 

A case in point is when the government talks about building schools, hospitals or providing free education and an inclusive national insurance scheme.

The recognition, in such development trajectory, is that when the people enjoy such facilities freely or at a small fee, it allows them to have some extra money in the pocket. That extra, because of the limited space of the pocket, literally, would force people to now look for other avenues to “hold” the cash. That is where the whole concept of savings and investment comes in. 

People are averse to savings and investments when the day-to-day payments cannot be made; when the pocket is dry, as simple as that.

But could there be a reason why most of the time people are not ready to share issues about their finances freely? Where money is concerned most of us are very secretive. 

Apart from a few that would want to be boastful about their possessions or flaunt what they have, generally, most of us wouldn’t set out in detail how much money we have, what we did with our money and what fantasies we have about getting and spending money. 

Questions like “how much are you earning now” or “how much are you paying for your mortgage” may seem offensive or intrusive to some because by and large, many would want to present themselves to the world as being very sensible and rational about money.

But, in fact, we are not - most of the time. Today’s world generally points to a lot of failings in this area. Stashed in the pockets of money are debts piled on credit cards and demand notices for payments. 

The global financial crisis of recent years was a case in point, when individuals had massed up debts to crisis point. Those living in plush homes, some financed by mortgage payments, and with huge debts on top of that, were forced to sell out when the credit situation became severe.

Even the banks and other financial institutions that had presented themselves as the Big Uncle with deep pockets, capped with financial discipline, were soon exposed as undisciplined after all. Government cash was needed to bail some of these financial institutions and those not so lucky to receive a bailout support had to fold up.

What this means is that what we normally do about money relates more to the logic of our own individual structure of meaning and not the logical, “scientific” thinking that one would expect.

If you can logically walk through the impact of interest rates on borrowed funds or the debt build-up when you borrow from different sources, for example, why would you overindulge in the loans market? 

Well, it is your meaning structure which makes sense of what you encounter and which decides your future action.

Pay heed to the reverberating sounds from the pocket, as it may well mean that it is about time you took the right decisions to straighten the pocket. 

 

 

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