18 days until Deb and Tom vow to be together forever. Forever and ever and ever. Boy, that seems like a long time!
Sometimes you get lessons about money in unexpected ways. When I was 12-13 years old, I was always around the tavern. A man named Jim Ryan supplied orthaphonic machines to the City Club on a shared revenue basis. Jim owned the machines. He would place them in a conspicuous location in the tavern, load popular songs in record form on the machine and then people could play music as they drank their problems away. It cost a dime to play one tune and 3 for a quarter. Jim Ryan would come around once a week and empty the coins from the machine. Myrna and I would help count the coins and put them in paper wrapper rolls. After the total was tallied up, Jim Ryan got his fee for supplying machines. Myrna got the remainder of the revenue. Imagine a little kid being able to count up all that money!
Jim Ryan would take me along on his route to other taverns in Sheboygan County where he had the same arrangement with other tavern owners. He enjoyed my company. Imagine that! He liked me. Besides I could help him if he was installing or removing equipment. I got all the soda and potato chips I wanted.
Jim was a fun guy. He was about 5'10" tall, kind of handsome with locks of curled black hair and a distinct mustache. He looked like he had stepped off a south sea island in World War II with short sleeved shirts and bulging muscles. He could also be a "no non-sense" kind of a guy.
I remember going to Cascade to a tavern on the main highway through town. On this occasion, my buddy John Zelm came along. John may have been one of the most uncouth characters in my childhood. Jim Ryan had emptied the coins from the orthaphonic equipment and placed it on a table. He and the owner were counting it. John and I wandered over to the table and apparently behaved very obnoxiously. Jim Ryan took both John and I over to some bar stools, made sure we had something to drink and ordered us to stay at the bar. Jim finished splitting the money from the machine and we left the tavern.
And then Jim Ryan unloaded! He grabbed the arms of both John and I and looked at us sternly. When people are conducting personal business transactions such as counting money, that should be respected. He considered the antics of John and I disrespectful and it would never happen again. His tone and his look said it all. Fun is fun. Business is business. Then we went on to the next tavern and you can bet that we did not impose on the business dealings of Jim Ryan. Even my buddy John got the message.
I never forgot that. Jim was right. When people are conducting personal business it is private and to be respected. If I see people transacting financial affairs, I will walk away from the situation. There are details and facts that are none of my business. The corollary to my respecting other people's business is that they respect mine. If I have a personal dealing taking place, I expect other people to respect my privacy.
The lesson Grasshoppers is to always respect business dealings of other people and you should demand the same thing. It is common sense folks!
Love,
Dad