| Brother
Don's Big Finger |
| Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there was a
young boy named Craig - and this story happened when he was 16 years
old. Craig had been a farm boy when he was younger, but he moved with his parents to town 3 years earlier when his dad retired from farming. When Craig moved to town, he got a job as a paperboy for the Des Moines Register. That means that he delivered newspapers every morning to about 45 families. He had to get up at 5am and ride his bicycle downtown to get the newspapers. Then he rode about 3 miles on his bike to deliver the papers on his route. After that, he would shower, dress and ride his bike to school. On Sundays, his job was especially hard. He had 65 Sunday paper deliveries and the Sunday papers were much thicker and heavier than the daily papers. On Saturday afternoons, Craig rode his bike throughout his route and collect money from people for the newspapers. Usually he would make between $5-6 per week for his labor. This was more money than he had ever made before. He usually spent about a dollar a week on comic books and on an occasional order of french fries. He saved the rest of his money in the bank for a car and for college. Craig had a good friend named Wes. Wes was about two years older than Craig and he had a very good job. He ran the movie projector at the Town Theatre. There was only one theatre in town and movies were shown most evenings at 8pm. On Friday and Saturday nights, though, there were two showings – one ran at 7pm and then the next at 9pm. The projectionist job was very important in that he was responsible to run the large 35mm movie film projectors and also to change the movie titles on the theatre marquee. He also had to pack up the movie reels so that they could be sent on to the next movie theatre. Wes had done all that for about two years and he was proud of his princely salary of $18 a week. When Wes was ready to go off to college, he told his employer that Craig would be a good replacement projectionist and Craig got the job. He was so excited and proud. It was cool to be able to see all the movies. It was cool to get 'fringe benefits' in addition to his pay. The fringe benefits were that he received a small soda and popcorn every evening! Best of all, Craig was making more money than he ever had in his life. He had started to spend it too since by now, he had a girlfriend and a car. His car was a metallic green 1964 Pontiac Catalina 4 door hardtop and it really could run! His girlfriend was a very pretty gal that he had known since 1st grade. She lived in town too. Her mom was a 1st grade teacher and her dad was the plant manager of the creamery. Craig was so happy to have money in his pocket, a car, a great job - and he was absolutely smitten with his new girl friend, Sharon. He was loving his new standard of living, but he was not saving his money as he had been earlier. He had begun to buy hamburgers, fries and milk shakes several times per week and he burned a lot of expensive gas (35 cents per gallon) driving around in his car. Craig was always impressed with his older brother Don because Don was nearly 20 years older than him and knew so much. One day, Don asked him 'how is it going'? Craig responded quickly and enthusiastically about all his good fortune. When Don asked him 'how much are you making now?', Craig was very proud and smug to answer “$18 per week”. The next thing that Don said surprised Craig. Don said “well, then, that's a lot of money so how much money are you saving now?” Craig was a bit startled at this question. He thought a bit and stuttered back that he wasn't really saving anything at all right now. (To Craig, it had seemed that the money was plentiful and quick so why bother to save?) Don looked sternly down at Craig. Craig was physically only slightly smaller than his older brother Don. However, he felt like a much younger and smaller boy when Don did this. Then Don stuck out his large, strong pointer finger and shook it in front of Craig for emphasis. Their eyes locked as Craig looked down the long, thick barrel of Don's finger pointed directly at his nose. In a bold, matter-of-fact voice, Don told Craig “IF YOU DON'T LEARN TO SAVE MONEY NOW WHEN YOU ARE MAKING $18 A WEEK, THEN YOU WON'T KNOW HOW TO SAVE MONEY WHEN YOU ARE MAKING $100 A WEEK!!!” Craig was stunned by his brother's rebuke and admonition. He was both shocked about his brother putting that big finger in his face and he was amazed that his brother implied that one day Craig could be making as much as $100 a week!!! He didn't know what to reply except to blurt out a weak, 'ok'. Later he repeatedly mulled over what his brother had said. He ultimately concluded that his brother was exactly right and moreover he felt bad about his recent foolish spending habits. He determined to always save money - no matter how much he made or how difficult it was to do so. He determined to always be frugal with his earnings and to heed his mother's advice to “spend a little and save a little”. _Epilogue:_ About 5 years later, Craig gave a diamond engagement ring to that girl named Sharon. He had saved for a diamond for many months and he paid the cash that he had faithfully saved for it. After they had been married for about 5 years, they bought a house (where they have lived for 25+ years). They had saved together for that house and were very happy to have a down payment for it when they relocated to Texas. Craig is much older now, but he still forces himself to put aside some savings every year for unplanned needs, for retirement, for his children's education, etc. He has always remembered the lesson that his brother Don taught him that day when he was a 16 year old boy and his brother pointed his finger at his nose! He now understands by experience why it is so important to become disciplined to save and he tries to teach his own children (and anyone else that will listen) to save their money too. |