Man Fondly Recalls Days Of Luxury & Excess While On The PUP

REACHING INTO the ether of the past to grasp at memories of a bygone era, one local Waterford man has recalled the halcyon days of living the vaunted lifestyle of a billionaire while in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment for a brief time in 2020.

“I didn’t want to admit it at the time, but it was a massive money making scam by workshy bastards like myself and not just a way to help me pay for food and the rent my landlord refused to reduce,” admits Trevor Hally now.

The 31-year-old barman, who currently has to spend a lot of time carefully accounting for every penny he spends, misses his PUP-era which was marked by wanton excess on the taxpayer’s dime.

“I was Jay Gatsby and my version of a tower of champagne was tipping the take away delivery guy 2 euro that one time, I still dream of those days” recalled Hally with an aching nostalgia.

“I was buying the fancy notions sourdough bread in the shops too, nothing was too fine or high falutin for me. I even bought new jocks online that weren’t from Penneys. I pinch myself now when I think about it, the notions. Who did I think I was? Beyonce and Jay-Z,” Hally added, now living a humdrum and joyless life and his regular salary.

Buying as many as two craft beers on one occasion as a treat instead of the Perlenbacher in Lidl, Hally felt a brief flash of shame spread across his face as he contemplated how large he lived, how little thought he gave to his out of control luxurious flights of fancy.

“It’s sort of terrifying tough, I’m glad I got that insight into what it would be like. I can see now how Lotto winners lose the run of themselves,” Hally said, reliving the rush he felt when he bought non-supermarket brand porridge.