MORGAN LEGEL | OPINION EDITOR

Cartoon by Audrey Meyer

You can’t buy me love, but you sure as hell can buy me happiness.

I know what you are thinking. What is this girl even talking about?

What I am talking about is this: a single Jackson, one lone bill, your last $20.

What would you spend it on?

If I were a betting woman, I would bet you would spend it on something that makes you happy. And you would remember the moment you bought it for the rest of your broke life.

The top 10 best-selling products of all time are the PlayStation, Lipitor, the Toyota Corolla, Star Wars DVDs, the iPad, Mario Brothers franchise, “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, Harry Potter novels, the iPhone and the Rubik’s Cube, according to a USA Today article.

Besides Lipitor, which to me is an unnatural outlier, it seems that the other nine things make people happy. Especially the $4.6 billion Star Wars franchise, which I have admittedly donated to a lot – and I mean a lot – over the years. And you know what? I would spend my last $20 on it.

I still remember the first moment I saw “A New Hope.” I remember being in a trance, staring at Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford. I remember yearning to know what was coming next, not even faltering when my mom called out that it was dinner time. I remember how my smile felt on my lips. I remember the moment. The moment that I had to buy when I rented the movie from the video store in town.

There are those of you out there that probably still think I am full of shit. But what makes you happy? No matter how out there it is, no matter how abstract an idea, I bet you have put some money into it over the years. And that makes the best memories – doing something that makes you happy.

So, I guess my point is that this cliche idea that “money can’t buy you happiness” is not a total lie, but rather an exaggeration. The moments are what you are buying, not the singular object. So, go out and buy yourself something nice and make yourself happy. I guarantee you deserve it.