Note: Happy 2022 from the snowy DC-area!
A few years back, I went to a ceremony of sorts to celebrate a friend’s promotion to a higher military rank. He was going from Sergeant to Staff Sergeant in the Marine Corps,* and was hosting a celebration accordingly. This was my introduction to the military tradition of “wetting down,” or a “wetdown.”
The wetdown is a tradition whereby the promotee pays for a party. Pretty simple, really. From a financial perspective, the aim is for the promotee to spend the difference between one of their old paychecks and one of their new ones. On their friends. Mostly by way of alcohol procurement.
What an awesome tradition, I thought. And (in a nerdy, financially-savvy way) how responsible as well.
I’ve heard of people running out and buying new cars, even new houses, to celebrate their promotions, because they attain a certain level. Ugh. Are you really tying yourself down to the new job and instantly chipping away at your new earning power by buying a depreciating asset or some other status symbol? Yuck.
The more I’ve thought about it over the years, the wetdown is the perfect way to celebrate a pay raise. Take a two-week (or so) paycheck and splurge on the difference between the old pay and the new one. Maybe it’s just $50. Maybe it’s $500. Regardless, you get to splurge a little.
And that’s what it comes down to… The natural desire of most people is to grow their expenses concurrent with newfound income. I think this is because they want to acknowledge that they’re now a bigger deal than they were before. As I’ve outlined in other posts, it’s often these decisions that end up having a huge difference in the long-run for people.
If you limit yourself to just splurging a little, à la the wetdown, you get to keep all that new income. You can have your cake and eat it too!
In my little familial circle, we embrace this wetdown tradition by splurging on sushi. Yeah, you read that right. Whoever gets a promotion, pay raise, whatever, buys sushi and drinks for the rest of us. It’s a fun way to fête** the person’s success without going overboard. Feel free to steal it for yourself, or use it as inspiration for your own clan. I think in the long run, you’ll be glad you opted to do this instead of the alternative!
*The Marine Corps takes its traditions very seriously, as you can read here in what I find to be hilarious yet traditional military comms. I especially like this excerpt: “ANY LOSS OF TRADITION OR IMPROPER OBSERVATION OF CUSTOM BLURS OUR IDENTITY AND WEAKENS US AS AN INSTITUTION. THROUGH THE FAITHFUL ADHERENCE BY COMMANDERS AND EACH INDIVIDUAL MARINE, WE PRESERVE OUR IDENTITY AND REPUTATION AS A UNIQUE AND
ELITE FIGHTING ORGANIZATION.” (For the record, I’m not shouting, just quoting.)
**That’s two French phrases in one post!
