One should never be born into a middle-class family—especially the lower middle class. As the saying goes, this class gets squeezed from both sides. Neither poor nor rich, it's a nebulous in-between. The income barely covers an already pruned budget. You don’t want to appear poor, yet there’s a constant urge to project an upper-class status.

Where does this originate? Jealousy? Greed? A desire for unnecessary things? False pride? It’s the constant struggle to keep up appearances while ensuring that expenses always outpace income. Why not adopt a simple principle: "This is my income, and I’ll spend within it, save whatever I can, and manage the family"? Can it be done? Yes, it’s the truly poor who suffer—lacking food, nutrition, direction, and means to earn. The middle class does earn, right? So, aren’t they better off?

But satisfaction and contentment are elusive. Where does the desire for more wealth end?

Polonius famously said, "Neither a borrower nor a lender be, for loan oft loses both itself and a friend." Just as light attracts insects toward self-destruction, loans tempt human beings toward financial ruin.

For people like me, working in financial institutions that liberally grant loans to employees, borrowing becomes not just an option but an irresistible necessity.

What do you do when a colleague excitedly tells you about how he made ice cream with his new refrigerator, how he can drink cold water in this blistering heat, or how a grinder has made his wife happy and relieved her of strenuous work? These stories worm their way into your ears. You succumb to temptation. "Why not for my family?" You start exploring loan options, using every facility available. Installments? Yes, we can manage. There’s an increment coming in a few months, after all.

But the so-called "take-home pay," as it’s fondly called, which already falls short of the meticulously planned family budget, now reveals an even greater divide between increasing expenses and shrinking income.

The gratification is immediate. The moment the refrigerator or grinder arrives, the house is filled with smiles and laughter. Managing the installments? That’s a problem for another day. We can deal with it later. It’s the art of postponing future suffering.

I may be going against Polonius’ advice, but he’s not here to chide me, is he?

Continued in 182. Pressed and Oppressed - Part 2