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Post by jerry on Dec 18, 2009 16:31:43 GMT -5
Ever wonder how we got sidewalks? Those wonderfully smooth 3x3' slabs we biked and roller-skated on didn't just happen all by themselves. In fact, if our predecessors hadn't nearly starved to death because of hard times, my generation might have spent our younger days walking on dirt roads. www.stclaircountyal.com/timemachiine/time103.html |
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Post by cbk on Dec 18, 2009 22:27:51 GMT -5
Jerry, the key word is, WORK! Those people didn't want a government check sent to their house every month just because they showed up on planet earth. They were willing, and VERY able to work for their money. Not only did they earn an honest buck, many also learned skills that served them well later on in life. We need things such as those programs, NOT free give away money. I wonder how many folks would show up if a WORK program was started today.
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Post by jb on Dec 19, 2009 9:43:03 GMT -5
.....I wonder how many folks would show up if a WORK program was started today. Right on Chris!! |
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kpolk
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Post by kpolk on Dec 19, 2009 9:49:05 GMT -5
Thanks for that article Jerry. My Dad was in the CCC and did a lot of the rock work at Chewacla State Park in Auburn. The rock dam, rock bridge and 6 cabins are still there today. He was in two years and sent all his pay except a couple of dollars a month home to feed his brothers and sisters that were still left at home.
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Post by jerry on Dec 19, 2009 10:42:56 GMT -5
And thank you, Ken. We owe a lot to those people. I see every one of those rock walls and buildings as monuments to the kind of folks who made this country happen.
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Duke
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Post by Duke on Dec 20, 2009 7:59:42 GMT -5
Amen, Jerry. People of our parents generation really were special. They had a rough life and were srrong because of it. I meet very few people today that have the integrity to make their "word" their "bond". Very few. I guess that is why I value those few so much.
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Post by cbk on Dec 20, 2009 8:23:27 GMT -5
Me too Duke. A man's good name (woman's too) is something to be treasured. I am old enough to remember when a handshake was a binding thing in the eyes of the people making the bargain. They didn't need lawyers or judges to do the right thing. They worked hard and did what they said they would do. How sad that it is a rare thing today.
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Post by jerry on Dec 20, 2009 9:34:30 GMT -5
Agreed. Nobody is any better than their word. I always tell the truth, regardless of how uncomfortable it may be to me or to whoever asks the question. In the long run, my good name is more valuable than whatever a lie may gain me.
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kpolk
Full Member
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Post by kpolk on Dec 20, 2009 11:22:12 GMT -5
Me too Duke. A man's good name (woman's too) is something to be treasured. I am old enough to remember when a handshake was a binding thing in the eyes of the people making the bargain. They didn't need lawyers or judges to do the right thing. They worked hard and did what they said they would do. How sad that it is a rare thing today. That is true Chris. My Dad has always told me the most valuable things a poor man can have is his good name and good credit. He could walk into any bank in Pell City and borrow any amount of money he wanted just on his name with no collateral. When I bought my first car and needed tires he took me up to Smith's in Pell City and asked if he would sell me tires for 90 days same as cash. Mr Smith said since I was Dad's son he would. I signed the paperwork and paid off the tires and was on my way to establishing a good credit rating. |
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Post by jerry on Dec 20, 2009 11:59:19 GMT -5
Yep, good credit is like money in the bank, Ken. My first major credit was for a '58 Renault I bought from a local car-lot in 1963. It was a real piece of crap and I had to walk to make the final payment, but that's exactly what I did rather than stick them with the same junk they'd laid on me. I used them as a credit reference for years afterward.
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Post by cbk on Dec 20, 2009 16:59:54 GMT -5
Jerry, I had a Renault too. A 1962. It also was a piece of junk with bad luck attached. It was in the shop for a fender bender and when the mechanic took it out for a test drive the brakes failed and he ran into a wall!
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Post by Garland on Dec 20, 2009 23:11:00 GMT -5
When it came time for my first loan I asked the banker for $700 for an old forest service jeep. (I went to my Dad's banker). All he wanted to know was when did I need the money. That was with the First National in Leeds, I did business with them until they changed hands and didn't know me as a person any more.
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