While on a recent road trip, I listened to a talk show host that commented he had been asked why he is a conservative. And he said that he had to pause and give thought before giving an answer. I had an immediate answer to the question, "I like cherry vanilla ice cream."
When I was a boy, about 10 years old, my family was very poor. My parents depended upon government handouts to make ends meet. It was the days before food stamps, so we had to go to a distribution center and get canned meats, vegetables and sometimes fruits. None of the food was worth the trip to pick it up in my opinion, but I will admit it kept us from starvation. Hold on, I’m going to tell you why I am a conservative and what it had to do with ice cream. We never had ice cream.
I learned that a friend and I could team up and make money. We walked the nearby railroad tracks and picked up babbitt, a substance much like lead that serves as an antifriction substance for wheel bearings, and gathered grain that falls out of box cars. We sold the babbitt to a local junk dealer and sold the grain to some old ladies that fed it to their chickens. And, we saved our money until we could go to a nearby grocery and have ourselves some ice cream
Each of us would get a half gallon of the best cherry vanilla ice cream every made. Then we would sit on a bench in front of the store and eat it all. That’s it! I learned that if I worked, I could get things I wanted.
Later on I discovered that when I got a real check, the deductions taken were a large part of what I earned. I didn’t like that. To this day, I want those deductions to be less and for those that spend "my money" to do so wisely.
Instead of selling out to government, I sold out to work and rewards.
P.S. I have a half gallon of cherry vanilla in my freezer right now.
PMO
2017
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