So I was hanging out with the neighbor the other day. More and more, I enjoy tagging along with the guy. He's like my grandfather; battle-worn, self-reliant; but I suppose he probably drinks a little heavier than Grandaddy did at his age.
We were just having a couple of beers really, sitting in some rockers on the porch.
"So, looks like the economy might take a turn for the worse in the next couple months," I say.
"Meh," he grunts. "You know, a poor man never survived this life without being a do it yourselfer. I was raised in the Depression, and damned if we didn't grow or make nearly everything we had. There was no plumber or lawn maintenance crew when I grew up here. Hell, there was barely a grocery store. If we needed it, we had to figure out how to do it ourselves. That's how people live when they don't have money. Nowadays, people buy shit just to buy shit."
I sip my beer and stay quiet. I like to see how long his momentum lasts before he needs any kind of conversational input to keep him rolling.
"You know, I'll tell you a secret boy. Those people you bought your house from, they took out a line of credit on that home as soon as they could, and damned if they didn't get upside down in a jiffy. And for what? A boat. A big shiny truck to drive around town in. Both of which they had to dump like they dumped the house when they got divorced. You kids are morons, you know it? I'm not a money man 'er anything; but I've got some common sense, I tell you what."
"Wait. You've got a big truck just to drive around town," I motioned to the monster in his driveway. It's too big for his garage. "So what the hell?"
He rolled his eyes. "Boy, that's a 1989 Dodge Ram with a Cummins turbo diesel. I've put more miles on that one truck than you've driven or ridden in every car you've ever been in. It was paid for before your narrow ass was old enough to drive, and I keep it because it's free. See, common sense."
"Well, it's a real peice a shit. I can see why you so proudly display it in your front yard like that."
"Up yours city boy."
