Put your Taxes to Work

It has been a pretty miserable winter so far on the East Coast.  There have been many many cold and windy days (which means high heating bills).  We have also had our fair share of snowy days (which means more shoveling and wondering when the heck our street is going to be plowed).  It hasn’t been as bad as the “Snowmageddon” winter of 2010 when we had what felt like 6 feet of snow in the DC area, but it has not been fun.  Thankfully, we have had a little reprieve as of late with temperatures in the 50’s and a decent amount of sunshine.  Starting with a great idea from my wife and a little scrambling to get some food and supplies ready, we decided to take advantage of the weather and have a nice Sunday morning brunch at the park.  This was my inspiration for today’s post.

It was a great day to be at the park.  We went early enough to there wasn’t a huge crowd, but there were plenty of others who had the same idea as us to enjoy the park with their kids.  It was great seeing my son’s smile of glee as he went down the slide at the jungle gym.  He is a really curious boy, so being in a brand new environment like the park was awesome for him.  He wanted to explore every nook and cranny before he started getting tired from the sun I assume.  It was nice just to walk and talk in the great weather, treading on the carefully plowed walkways in between the manicured grass and flower beds.  The park also has some great running trails, paddle boats and basketball courts.  This got me thinking how awesome it is to have all of this and not pay anything.  This is world class entertainment and enjoyment all for free!

But of course, it’s not free.  My family and our fellow families pay for it with our tax dollars.  After baseball, the next national pastime of this country is to gripe about taxes.  About how there is too much taken out of our paycheck.  How our taxes seem to increase every year.  About how the American tax system is the worst ever and also the best in the world.  Despite all of these arguments, the federal and state governments need to levy taxes on its citizens.  They do have a society to run after all.  The majority of state taxes go towards education and health care, but taxes are also needed to maintain our roads and parks.  They allow us to experience a great Sunday morning brunch like my family recently did.  We plan to visit our local parks more often now that the weather will slowly be getting better and our son is more mobile than ever.  Those will be some fun filled days for sure.

Another thing paying taxes allows us to have is the local library system.  I’ve been a huge fan of the library for the past few years, and I regret not taking advantage of it the years before that.  When I was in high school the library was just a place to meet to meet for school projects and check out relevant books.  But there is so much more they have to offer.  Along with having almost every book ever made, many libraries also have a pretty robust selection of movies and TV shows for rent.  And with the internet making everything easier nowadays, reserving a movie/book is as easy as checking online to see if it’s available, clicking “Reserve” and then going to the library at some point to pick it up.  Most people want the latest and greatest NY Times bestseller, and they will go to Amazon or the bookstore to buy it.  But there are plenty of older bestsellers at the library to be had.

So to summarize: take advantage of your parks and libraries.  Not only do they have regular services that are extremely useful, they also have special events like movie viewings and book signings every so often.  Just take a look at their calendar online.  We pay for these services, so why not take advantage of them?

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