A Dating Adventure & 2 Very Important Questions

Originally written October 8, 2008

Tonight served as a learning experience and a test of my spiritual growth and maturity. After describing the events of my night to a dear friend (who has decided to live vicariously through me) she told me something very interesting and it made me think of one of my important questions. To make a long story short, she referred to my evening as charity and I asked her if because it was charity, could I use it to get a tax break?

The other question is something that I somewhat jokingly ask for and that is a gift receipt. Several years ago I was talking to someone about something, who knows what, I don't actually remember but it was probably about a guy or something that isn't really a gift but was none-the-less something that wasn't wanted and I said, "You should ask if that comes with a gift receipt."

The point of this is that there are two questions that can easily help you make a final decision about most things in life:
1. Does that come with a gift receipt?
2. Is it tax deductible?

Think about it. Big life changing questions:
Should I get married?
Should I have kids?
Should I buy real estate?
Should I buy a car, boat, plane, etc?

All of these things are tax friendly decisions, and you may be wondering, "What does any of that have to do with a gift receipt?" My theory about the gift receipt is sometimes you may get things you know you don't want or even things that you thought you wanted, but when it comes down to it, you really don't want it. So even though most of the answers to those questions is "No, it does not come with a gift receipt," it doesn't mean that you can't wish that they did.

Tonight was one of those 'ALL SALES ARE FINAL, NO REFUNDS OR EXCHANGES' kind of nights. It was something that I was doing to be nice but also something that I have been dreading. I knew that it was going to be nothing less than horrible and a waste of my time. (I'm going out of town this week and have to pack and run errands and go to the gym and really didn't want to waste my time having to go to dinner.) So can I take back an hour of my life? No, but I wish that I could, however it did not come with a gift receipt and though it could be considered charity I cannot write it off. So to do it over again, after asking myself these two questions, my answer would be different. It is now over and I can check it off of my list of things to do and hopefully not have to worry about any future endeavors of the same sort.