Imagine receiving an unexpected windfall of $5,400, with no restrictions on how it can be used.

Right now, that money would be around the amount required for two tickets to Taylor Swift鈥檚 Dec. 6 concert in Vancouver, during her Eras tour. Some tickets are significantly more expensive, and the Dec. 7 and 8 dates are a lot costlier than the Dec. 6 concert. (Tickets would have been substantially cheaper if one had purchased them as soon as they became available.)

For those who do not want to spend this much money on a concert, there are other ways to use $5,400.

One could make a contribution to a Registered Retirement Savings Plan or an investment within a Tax-Free Savings Account and enjoy the benefits later.

The money could be spent on some impressive sporting equipment, computers, tools, a vacation, some small home improvement projects or another purchase. It could be invested in training for skilled trades or in some university-level courses for professional development or personal growth.

That same $5,400 could also make a big difference to a charitable organization. It would go far in helping a food bank, a school lunch program, an anti-poverty organization or an animal sanctuary.

However, one 67-year-old Texas man had a different use for $5,400.

On Sept. 28, at the Ellis County Wild Game Dinner in Waxahachie, Texas, Gary Estes spent around $4,000 U.S., or the equivalent of around $5,400 Canadian to buy a guitar with a Taylor Swift theme. It had a certificate signed by her.

The dinner was a fundraising event for agricultural-based education in the county.

Once he had the guitar, Estes proceeded to the stage, where he smashed it with a hammer.

Later, the smashed guitar was auctioned on eBay.

Swift, an internationally acclaimed pop superstar, is not universally loved, especially after she recently endorsed Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. That endorsement has resulted in outrage and ire from some who support Republican candidate and former president Donald Trump.

However, Estes later said smashing the guitar was not meant to be a mean-spirited action.

鈥淚t was just a joke at an auction that we had to raise money for kids, right? And that's all it was,鈥� he said later. 

That鈥檚 a high price tag for a joke.

No matter what Estes thinks of Swift, her music or her political leanings, it seems rather odd to spend thousands of dollars on this guitar and then smash it without even playing it. 

A different anti-Swift stance could have been made if the people at the banquet had collectively agreed not to bid on the guitar. That silence would have spoken volumes, and it would have generated news headlines without a $5,400 price tag.

Another option would have been for Estes to spend the money on the guitar, as he did. Then, instead of smashing it, he could have stepped onto the stage and performed a cover of Swift鈥檚 2006 song, Teardrops On My Guitar. That would have created plenty of dialogue, in Texas and beyond.

In the end, Estes is free to use his money as he sees fit, as he demonstrated at the recent fundraising dinner. 

Still, the idea of spending this amount of money and then destroying the purchase is a bit unusual.

John Arendt is the editor of the Summerland Review.