As long as I can remember, my dad ALWAYS carried two
things in his pants pocket…a pocket knife…and a coin holder.
You know…one of
those rubbery football-shaped things that when you squeezed the ends, it opened
up and you could drop coins in, or take coins out.
It had a good purpose I
think. If you had a pocket full of change along with car keys or that pocket
knife and reached in your pocket to pull your keys out, it kept your coins from
flying all over.
Anyway…as a 6-7-8 year old I walked home from school every day
and I always stopped at the hardware store where dad worked. It was about 4
blocks from the school to ‘downtown’ Owensville where the hardware store was
located. Just a few buildings away from the hardware store was Bates Drug Store
where there was an abundant supply of 'penny' candy
of every sort. From the drug store, it was about 3 blocks to our house.
So
anyway, I’d stop at the hardware store, reach in dads’ pocket and get his coin holder,
find a dime, walk to the drug store, get my 10 cents worth of candy that penny candy that they’d
put in one of those ‘little’ brown paper bags, and head home. Probably more times
than not…the candy was gone before I ever got home.
I don’t know if I’ve ever
seen one of those coin holders since dad died. I rarely have coins in my pocket
for very long these days. If I do get change, I usually put it in our
piggy bank when I get home. Then once a year I’ll cash the piggy bank in and we’ll
use the money to buy something we’ve been looking for.
That was never an option
for dad. If he had change…I found an immediate need for it. The candy store! And it all started...with that coin holder.
REMEMBER:
In life,
it’s important to know when to stop arguing with people and simply let them be
wrong.
Be talkin’ to ya.
Dan
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