DAD'S MONEY LESSONS

Did you ever get the feeling way back in time that something had to give in the world of plastic money? I've felt that way for years after hearing stories from friends of mine who had $60,000 or even $90,000 in credit card debt while only earning under $100,000. Do the math..with high rates of interest up to 25% or more how is it possible anyone could ever pay off their cards in this lifetime. What the heck was so enticing out there in the world of things to buy? You don't buy cars on credit cards so we can leave that one off. I tend to believe it was smaller things you really could'nt afford but talked yourself into. You did'nt have the cash, but so what? How about a new top of the line high speed laptop computer with wireless connection and a very large screen. This seemed like a really practical thing to purchase. Never mind that you already had a PC that was just two years old. Or let me suggest maybe the riding lawnmower with all the bells and whistles for $3,000 was a bit overboard considering the yard was just about the size of your 2,700 square foot home. Then there was those trips to football games that were all charged on your overweight credit card. Gas , hotels, food and even bar tabs. It was time to party. And you always bought the biggest and best gifts for Christmas so no member of your family would be deprived of anything. It all adds up before you know it. My father was not a Rhodes Scholar but he was right about money. Since he did not have any bank accounts or savings he had a small black purse or wallet sort of thing that opened at the top with several little compartments. That purse was always with him and underneath his pillow at night. Dad was tight like Mr. Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol." I never ask him how he separated cash into the various sections but he did teach me something I've never forgotten and it's a simple lesson for everyone. If you don't have the cash money you can't afford to buy anything. In other words if it's not in your pocket you don't have it. What a simplistic huge lesson for this nation! What did people do before credit cards came along? They found some other way to make things work! I am a practical person who has never really wanted for anything and I'm not in debt to anyone. This country has got to return to the frugal days of the past. Figuratively speaking, I suggest what all of us should have is something like my dad's little black pocketbook that lets you know how much money you really have to spend and no more!!! It works!

PAUL WOLFE

THE LAST DANCE

Back when I was in the 7th grade my mom said I was a little clumsy and she decided that going to social dancing class was the answer. So every friday night I took the Lakeview bus and headed downtown in Augusta, Georgia to the YWCA ballroom to face the incredible torture of learning to dance. All the boys wore suits and the girls had those big frilly dresses. I wore my only suit to church two times a week and to dancing class. The suit gave me sort of a Jerry Mahoney or Howdy Doody look with freckles. Having yet to discover hair tonic my hair style was a lot like Alfalfas. Being the worst possible dancer in the class also brought on a medical condition known as "sweating buckets syndrome." Most of the time the teacher, Mrs. Price, was my constant companion on the dance floor where everyone could snicker at my ineptness, but once in a great while I would dance with my actual dancing partner named Henrietta. She had a great personality but was not much to look at. The music for the classes was stuff I hated like Papa Loves Mambo by Perry Como, Sway by Dean Martin and Blue Tango by Leroy Anderson. After an evening of stepping on many, many toes I would leave and go buy a Coke to help with the dehydration problem and wait for the bus in front of a store I loved called Bowen Brothers. This store had all the latest things plus Augusta's first escalator. I remember that the "The life of Riley" was always on the tv in the store window.
The other day I happen to pass the old "Y" and did a double take. It was reduced to a pile of rubble and machines were scooping it up. Someone said the new library would be taking it's place. As I stood there gazing at it I suddenly realized I never really danced again after that class. I wonder if that kind of social dancing still exists. I kinda hope it does.