December 11, 2003
At The Expense Of Others
I am in Budapest tonight, posting from a little basement cafe. In a few minutes I'll finish here and then go for a walk along the river and then to bed.
I came here for a conference, which was very interesting; perhaps I'll post about it sometime. But tonight I want to post briefly about the people who made it possible for me to be in this beautiful city tonight.
Because I'm here at the expense of others. The American taxpayer is paying for my plane ticket, and my hotel, plus a few dollars extra to feed me while I'm here. So I have an obligation to make something out of it. The benefits that might come back to the American taxpayer from my activities will be very, very indirect; but indirect benefits are benefits nonetheless, and I will try to make sure that there are some.
Less abstract and much more concrete, I'm here at the expense of my wife. While I have two days in beautiful Budapest -- and two nights of uninterrupted sleep in my nice hotel -- Claudia is alone with a baby and a toddler. For two days she has to feed, change, bathe, burp, amuse and take care of these two very demanding little creatures, while I talk about secured transactions and stroll down the Danube esplanade.
I hope to make it up to her, though the when and the how are unclear. (I'd take the kids for a weekend myself, but the baby is still nursing.)
But I guess that's part of what marriage is: a lot of borrowing, hoping that you can pay it back some day.
Right, off I go.