By Mike Johnson
The 1964 comic book ad lists a Schwinn Varsity 10-speed bicycle for $66.95.
A Schwinn Sting-Ray goes for $49.95.
By 1970, I owned both.
At the time, I didn’t feel rich. Now I realize I was.
In those days, parents didn’t coddle children. You did what you were told, ate what you were fed and offered no lip. Children were seen but not heard. Cause trouble and you received severe punishment.
You’d rather face a principal or a cop than your father.
There was no “fuck around and find out.” You KNEW what would happen.
Dad’s belt for starters. Followed by no TV. Being grounded indoors. Having to shadow dad for a full hour, thinking about what you’d done, as he occasionally looked your way with a glare.
But through grace, luck and chance, I got paper routes by age 11. This was like winning the lottery.
For starters, it got me out of the house at 4am and 3pm every day. No excuses needed. Dad respected the necessity of showing up for a job. I think he was even proud I was learning self-discipline. Less time around him was less chance of trouble.
This escape was so valuable that I’d have done those routes for free. But they paid me cash money too.
Not paycheck money. Anytime-I-wanted-it money.
All I had to do was knock on the door of a few customers and I’d collected a week or two of their subscription money. As long as I didn’t overspend and stayed current with my newspaper bill, I had cashflow anytime I wanted.
Hence buying the bikes. Which provided even more freedom.
Most kids ranged within blocks of home. My radius was miles.
Most kids had to stretch Easter and Halloween candy throughout the year. I could buy it right from the store.
Most kids were dependent on parents and begging skills. I was a free man, making my own purchase decisions, no groveling required.
Perspective now reveals I desperately needed that contrast.
Getting what I DIDN’T want from home, pushed me to go after what I DID want outside it.
Paper routes did teach me self-discipline. They also taught self-esteem, customer skills, money management and how to sell. They also gifted the joy and solitude of having the world to myself at 4am, an enriching habit I’ve enjoyed ever since.
And of course, they provided the mothership – FREEDOM.
Fifty years later, I now see contrast has always been my friend.
Everything you don’t want, is doing you the favor of pushing you toward what you do want.
But you have to start. Losers languish. Schwinners get moving.
Thanks to contrast, a better life is within your range.
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More:
Love Your Kids? Make Them Work
Morning Promises, Morning Lessons
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