A $114,000 debt paid in cash has left a lot of people stumped. Who would do such a thing? they wondered. More importantly, why would someone go through the hassle of paying off their student loan in cash? Was this person trying to prove a point? The whole ordeal, which was brought to the attention of the masses courtesy of a Reddit post, was quickly blown out of proportion by those who felt the gentleman in question was attempting to flaunt how “rich” and “successful” he was.

Business Insider, inspired by the sheer number of comments their article received, decided to track down the culprit. Enter Alex Kenjeev, a 2009 graduate from the University of Toronto and venture capitalist for O’Leary Ventures. Kenjeev thought it would be amusing to pay off his debt in cash, and decided to post the receipt of the transaction to his Facebook page after the fact. However, everything changed once someone shared the image with the Reddit community.

“I was feeling very good about finally being debt-free,” Kenjeev explained. “Some people have taken it pretty offensively. I actually think they have a point. It hadn’t really occurred to me.”

The reason he doesn’t feel that great about being debt-free: public reaction. The litany of insulting comments aimed directly at the successful graduate was almost instantaneous; individuals who claimed to have attended law school with Kenjeev began to take shots at the poor guy, all because he had enough money in his bank account to rid himself of the school loans hanging metaphorically above his head.

Here’s how the whole thing went down: Kenjeev stopped by his bank and, after a few days of processing, managed to secure the amount of his loan in cash. He then walked a few blocks down to another bank, presented a satchel of cash to the manager, and effectively erased that burden from his conscious. Since he thought the whole situation was kind of amusing, he shared his accomplishment with his friends on Facebook, thus birthing a gaggle of little green monsters.

My advice to Mr. Alex Kenjeev: Enjoy your freedom. You’ve destroyed a beast that most college students won’t slay for several long years. However, the next time you decide to drop an insane amount of cash on a single transaction, maybe it’s best to celebrate in privacy. After all, haters are, in theory, gonna hate.

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