Money

R: Would you like to travel more?

Nathan: Yes, I would like to go to most places but not spend too long in the cold ones, hehe.

R: I've always wanted to take a road trip and just head in a direction. Go no place in particular and drive until you want to stop.

Nathan: Specifically, I'd like to go to Honduras.

R: How come?

Nathan: I'd like to visit the child I'm sponsoring from there.

R: That is awesome. You said you are not much into aesthetics. When you get a good job, do you think you will get a new nice car?

Nathan: No, definitely not.

R: Why get a good job and make money?

Nathan: If my Buick had not developed an engine problem, I would still be driving that and would have continued to drive it as long as it ran well, no matter how rich I got.

R: Okay, what do you plan to do with your money, if I may ask?

Nathan: Maintain a modest existence and help people.

R: That is a good goal.

Nathan: I think I have about all I want for myself already. I could do without a lot too, hehe.

R: So, you plan to make charitable contributions?

Nathan: Yeah.

R: Good for you, because it looks like you don't have many luxuries. Your room is very minimalist. I'll bet you don't buy expensive clothes either?

Nathan: I don't buy any, hehe.

R: You don't buy any clothes. Where do you get them?

Nathan: I just wear what I get for Christmas for years and years. McDonald's gives me a free t-shirt each year that can be worn to work only on Fridays, but I just wear the normal uniform because I don't think t-shirts are comfortable while working.

R: Do you spoil yourself at all?

Nathan: I used to buy cassette tapes.

R: Okay, do you ever dress up?

Nathan: I have a closet full of button ups I've accumulated that I wear to church, and my mom bought me 2 blazers for my last birthday for 5 dollars each at Goodwill, hehe.

R: You don't want some nice clothes? New stuff?

Nathan: Nah, not until I wear out what I have.

R: Well, this is going to sound shallow to you, but you should get a few new things. Update your style.

Nathan: You sayin' my style is wack? lol I'm just being silly, go on.

R: No, you don't look bad in your pictures, but you would look nice in a pair of Levi's or Luckies and a new t-shirt.

Nathan: You think Levi's are superior to the jeans I have?

R: I dunno. They're more stylish.

Nathan: I can't really tell the difference myself, but when it comes to clothes, I'm a layperson.

R: Layperson?

Nathan: I am under the impression that it means someone who is not an expert, like what I should not be in accounting after I get out of school, hehe.

R: Ok, got it.

Nathan: My jeans are all Arizona, the brand from JC Penny.

R: Those aren't bad.

Nathan: I have a pair of Levi's jean shorts.

R: Cool. What kinds of t-shirts do you have?

Nathan: I have my Powerpuff girls t-shirt, 2 Portsmouth High school tennis t-shirts, a PHS t-shirt they gave all the students for free, the PHS seniors t-shirt, 3 McDonald's cruise in shirts, an ivy crew shirt that I'm wearing in one of the pictures on my site, and others.

R: Is PHS your high school?

Nathan: Yeah.

R: Well, this is none of my business, but do you have some money saved up?

Nathan: Yeah, when I get my check, I just take out my money for church and gas money and put the rest in the bank.

R: Okay, go out and buy some t-shirts. Old Navy has some cool stuff.

Nathan: Get some Abercrombie and Fitch while I'm at it? Hehe

R: Sure, they're alright. It doesn't have to be expensive, though.

Nathan: Some of my t-shirts look as good as new really. A lot of them I don't wear often. Until it started getting cold, I was wearing my Powerpuff girls t-shirt at least once every other week. A girl from Tennessee sent me it in the mail.

R: Is she someone you met online?

Nathan: Yeah.

R: You don't have any guilty pleasures or anything? There's nothing you splurge on just because you like it?

Nathan: Sometimes, if I'm not careful to keep all my money in the bank, I'll end up getting something from a restaurant, and last summer, I bought a CD burner.

R: You don't even eat out on a regular basis? What do you plan to do with the money you are accumulating?

Nathan: I'll use it for whatever I need it for, I guess.

R: You don't really have bills except for stuff related to your car right now, do you? There's just gas, insurance, tags, and maintenance.

Nathan: I've got all my tax stuff right here. Sponsorship came to $305 in 2003.

R: That is not a splurge. You'll get a decent tax return then. Are you planning to use that money for anything?

Nathan: I'll treat that refund just like a regular check.

R: Why have money if you're not gonna spend it?

Nathan: I'll spend it sometime, just not right now.

R: Let's say, you never marry, and you continue this very modest living. After you have a good job as a CPA and you have a bunch of money when you die, who gets it?

Nathan: Charities.

R: Wow, you are really selfless.

Nathan: I donno. I sort of think selflessness is a paradox.

R: Why?

Nathan: Even though you call me selfless, these are my ideas for what I would like to do.

R: Can you give me a more direct and not so general answer as to why you don't want to marry?

Nathan: I think it is better to avoid such things to not be distracted from doing good, helping people.

R: It is good to help people, but you have to be happy too.

Nathan: Doing good by helping people will make me happy. Reducing my ability to do so by marrying will make me less happy. That's why it seems to me that selflessness is a paradox. Someone says, "But you're giving up marriage and this and that!" But to someone who feels like I do, that's not much to give up.

R: So, you view yourself as a servant?

Nathan: I will be what seems to be good to me, and that will make me happiest. If I seem to be a servant, that is fine. I have not tried to categorize myself.