THERE have been a number of advertisements flooding the airways and to be honest, they have left me disgusted and wondering why this is even allowed.
Cutting straight to the chase, banks and one particular money lending agency have been enticing new and existing clients to come in and negotiate “special” loans to pay for their carnival costumes.
Now, last year around this time, I wrote about the lengths that people go to in order to purchase carnival costumes, men and women alike.
Some of those lengths included borrowing, which I did touch upon briefly but my grouse mainly focussed on blatant prostitution.
This year, I think I will revisit the borrowing part because back then, I questioned the thinking of the revellers who borrowed large amounts of money, leaving themselves in debt and in some cases, danger, just to enjoy two days of carnival.
This time around I’m focussing on the lenders, but I don’t even have to question their motives for making such offers, because we all know the answers to that, which is to make more money and oh yeah, to make more money…did I also mention that it was to make more money?
Now, I know that money has no friends or loyalty, but to actually cast your wicked nets out to catch and prey upon the “little people”, is disgusting.
The sad part is that you actually seek out the people who truly are less fortunate and are willing to go to these lengths to have that bit of fun that they see everyone else having and just want to take part as well.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you have your criteria that clients must meet, but what about the people who are indeed employed but barely make enough to sustain them for two weeks? They have long term jobs and can meet all the requirements to get them that loan but what happens to them after you have deducted your monthly payments from their salaries and they are left with scraps?
Ok, I know by now people might be turning up their noses and saying that the choice is up to those applying for the loans, but let’s be brutally honest here. There are thousands of people who don’t have and couldn’t catch common sense even if they were slathered in syrup and put into a field of common sense ants…I know that makes no sense but you catch my drift.
The average person who takes a loan, even though it is for carnival, will do so knowing that he or she could pay it back without putting a strain on their monthly budget.
But the fact remains that there are many people out there who will feel the extreme strain, and luring them in to face these future burdens is just plain wrong!
There are times when I find that those lending companies can be real heroes and get you out of some real emergencies and binds…heck, even I have used one once, but the carnival honey trap? That is a complete 360, anti-hero move.
Why don’t those lenders change their tactics and use a method that would benefit both them and their clients?
With costumes ranging between $2095 – $500, it is clear that clients will be breaking down lenders doors; why not have their best interests at heart?
Why can’t they come up with an initiative like a carnival fund where they entice clients to set up a monthly fund whereby money is deducted from clients’ salaries and saved up throughout the year? With each monthly deposit, the lenders take a small piece of it for themselves and the rest is left to accumulate so that come January or whatever month the costumes are launched, clients have their money sitting prettily in a special carnival account somewhere and they get to celebrate without any guilt or worries about where the payment is coming from?!
Nah? Will that make clients too happy or satisfied? Will that mean that they won’t suffer enough throughout the rest of the year
I am so disappointed in the way some banks go about making their money, although I really shouldn’t be surprised as some of them have proven that they really don’t care about clients.
I am even more disheartened that there is nothing that authorities can do to put a stop to this kind of “criminal” and “diabolical” behaviour.
At the end of the day, people have free will and they get to make their own choices. It is their basic human right but for goodness sake, spare a thought for the people whose minds work below the pace of the average and normal mind because they are the ones who will undoubtedly get caught in these nasty webs and in these harsh times, they don’t stand a chance.
