Recently I've found the concept of getting a pet really bizarre. It's probably because I don't make enough money to live on my own and am still paying for college and whatnot, and also thinking about the amount of money I could have saved if not for college expenses and whatnot. But then, the concept of owning a pet pops up in my head and how much of a waste of money it is when that same money could be used to benefit your life in other, more permanent ways and maybe even the lives of others as well.
Like I work retail and you'll have older people with 2 dogs and 2 cats, or like 4 dogs and buy stupid amounts of dog food and spend god knows what on medical expenses, toys, etc. The standard of living that you could improve for yourself with all that money (speaking from a relatively poor college student's point of view) is RIDICULOUS. I had to consider in my mind that they had so much money they got bored and wanted to take care of an animal for fun.
And before you say "It's not just animal it's a member of the family and I love him/her!" you don't. Well, to be specific, you don't love a pet before you spend substantial time with it. You are adopting/purchasing a pet to fall in love with it. Basically choosing to take care of an animal for 10-15 years until they die and you do something else. Not trying to sound sociopathic or anything, but it's weird to me to have so much money and use it on a pet when you could use that money to invest in your retirement fund, help pay for a relative afford college, pay off student debt, start a new hobby, travel a little bit... stuff like that.
I know people are gonna read the title, not read the OP, an assume I'm an asshole who hates animals and doesn't understand love, so go ahead and think that if you haven't read through the OP, but if you have, I want to know what is the benefit of deciding to get a pet like a dog or cat? Or even a goldfish or some shit?