Maintaining Magnificent Homes for Extraordinary People

{3 minutes to read}  “Oh, puleeeez!” This was the tag-line on the side of a contractor’s truck I saw last week, parked in front of someone’s modest, high ranch in a middle-income neighborhood. There was certainly nothing magnificent about the home, though I’m sure there were extraordinary people living in it. The house appeared to be clean and well tended, and probably the people living there were of modest means.

Does this sort of flattery really attract people? How much more over-the-top does the assuaging of the ego have to be? Doesn’t anyone see through this? Isn’t anything that’s good, old, regular, and plain-vanilla, good enough anymore? Does every noun have to have a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious adjective attached to it to make it seem more than what it really is?

I’ve been thinking a lot about how hyperbolic our language has become in recent years and have been writing things down as I hear or see them:

• Radical chic!
• Demand the best!
• Very unique!
• Radical proximity!

Why does this irk me? Well, because I see many people in my mediations struggling while working hard and doing the best they can to keep their financial heads above water. They are the salt of the earth and I think the hyperbole makes them feel “less than” which is just not fair. People have a lot of shame about their financial situations. They think if only they did this, if only they didn’t do that, if only, if only, if only… it’s an endless loop made worse by the superlative language we see everywhere.

I remind my couples that they are not alone. Not even close. There are expenses to the family household that weren’t even on the radar 15 years ago. Think about all the technology we own and consume… and the associated costs for cell phones, computers, iPads, laptops, printers and all the accoutrements to assist them. Add in the cable charges, Netflix, Hulu, Tivo or whatever your particular brand of media consumption may be. They all come at a cost. And while those numbers continue to go UP, wages are not necessarily going up proportionately, if at all.

If we are going to assign hyperbole to anyone, in my estimation, these are the people who deserve it. These are the extraordinary people. They may not be living in magnificent homes but they are living in homes that provide a roof over their family’s heads. And isn’t that magnificent enough?