Tensions have been growing at the Jones family for quite a while now. Recently, it has been getting downright ugly.
A couple of years ago, Mrs. Jones met an attractive, silver-tongued man -- we'll call him simply T.P. -- who at first wooed her with compliments and lured her with pied piper tunes. But as their romance grew, so did T.P.'s influence on and demands from Mrs. Jones, including that she distance herself from Mr. Jones; that she criticize and oppose his every word and action.
Let's be clear, Mr. and Mrs. Jones have had their differences for a long time; their marriage has been shaky even preceding Mrs. Jones' romantic interlude. However, while the two have many ideological differences, today's serious arguments over financial matters threaten to topple the crumbling marriage once and for all and with disastrous consequences.
Basically, Mrs. Jones feels that Mr. Jones spends too much money on their children -- on things such as education, expensive and perhaps unnecessary health care, creating and maintaining a safe and healthy environment around the home, etc. -- and, in the process, is accumulating too much debt. And, true, Mr. Jones is not the paragon of frugality and financial responsibility. However, Mrs. Jones forgets how much money she has spent, how much debt the family has incurred pursuing petty, unnecessary and very expensive fights against those whom, in her vivid, phobic imagination, were threats to her and her family. Mrs. Jones has some very expensive tastes herself, including wining and dining her more wealthy friends. She also forgets how often she has refused to accept financial help from her very wealthy relatives, who are able and more than willing to help the family out until they get their financial act together.
No one observing this marriage coming apart at the seams will agree that increasing the family's revenues alone will solve their financial woes or perhaps even save their marriage. It is obvious that until the family settles on a solid long-term plan to manage the budget, the family needs to both reduce their outlay and increase their revenues. However, there is an even more urgent problem knocking at the Jones' door. A problem that threatens to ruin them financially and make any potential recovery just that much more difficult.
See, the Jones family's credit cards and other credit have maxed out, their creditors are about to knock the door down -- the Jones are about to default on their debts. Mr. Jones wants to increase his lines of credit one more time. He has been doing so regularly with Mrs. Jones' full support. He knows it is not a long-term solution, but he also knows that if the family defaults on their debts this time there will be very serious consequences.
But how about Mrs. Jones? Well, in comes T.P who believes that it is now time to "own" Mrs. Jones; that it is time to once and for all break up the Jones marriage regardless of the consequences to the children and especially if it means ruining, making the much hated Mr. Jones fail.
No compromise, no marriage counseling, no financial recovery plan and consequences to the Jones children be damned. This is all-out war, the prize is Mrs. Jones and all that comes with her: wealthy relatives and friends, their influence, her Tiffany tastes and, above all, how this final conquest will humiliate and hopefully destroy Mr. Jones.
True, it takes two to tango and, yes, both partners have contributed to the financial disaster their marriage is facing. However, having a third-party -- a suitor -- step into the fray, a party who, for dubious ideological reasons consistently gives one of the dancing partners exactly the wrong advice, who will "take no prisoners," certainly does not bode well for this marriage.
Unless some common sense and caution prevail very quickly, it looks like T.P. may just get his way. If so, this American dysfunctional marriage will bite the dust and, as usual, the children will be the big losers.