The War On . . .

The war on drugs was declared back in the 70s I believe, and that seemed to increase the problem, while also making a nation of legal addicts with millions of prescriptions.  The war or terror has certainly increased the pockets of terrorist activity and locked down a number of freedoms.  Both of these wars have also made a booming business of the prison industry.

Now there's a new war.  It's the war on cash and both of the previously mentioned wars are cited in the reasoning . . . I use the term "reasoning" quite loosely.  It would seem The Powers That Be hold to the firm belief that drug dealers and jihadists keep their money in banks.  I have no idea why anyone in either of those lines of work would risk a paper trail for the current interest rates, but that's their story and they are sticking to it.  The war on cash is actually, of course, aimed at the average citizens and independent businessmen.  The war on cash is the slow desensitization toward the mark of the beast for buying and selling, not to mention tracking us.  Since most people have automatic deposit for their paychecks, pensions, and SS, the only reason to further monitor bank accounts would be for those who legitimately operate in cash, buying and selling without credit and payments.

This one hits rather close to home.  I have never used a debit card.  I average writing two checks a month and for the rest, I operate in cash.  It's not a large amount of cash, just for the feed store and a few incidentals.  I'm certainly not going to hit the designated amount mentioned in the article, on a regular basis but paying cash for larger items could easily hit the $5,000.00 marker.  Most folks selling a used vehicle want cash.  They don't take payments and nobody wants a check.  

I think of the truck I just purchased.  I purchased it from a dealer, so there is a paper trail, but I counted the cash out on the desk.  That kind of cash isn't laying around my house, so obviously, the cash withdrawal at the bank would have been flagged.  This new oversight truly seems just too Big Brothery to even try to sell to the American people.  There is no reason to track the average business person's bank account, and for people like me with little money and few transactions, it's one more invasive policy clearly outside of the stated purpose.

Ranting

Last week, I was in a restaurant in Joplin, when an 18 wheeler rolled into the neighboring parking lot.  The logo and tagline on the side of the trailer caught my eye.  The Sealy mattress company appears to have been able to particularize America's economic and moral situation in a single statement and a picture that is definitely worth a thousand words.

I don't consider myself a prude, but considering the tagline, the "sex appeal" in marketing seemed over the top.  As I sat there contemplating aloud, I realize sex appeal is used in marketing and a play on words always grabs attention, but a different tagline would have been much more appropriate with the image.  Yet, the image and tagline truly does sum up the condition of America and I simply don't like the reality.

I know there was probably no way to put various images of working people into some sort of collage to portray the message, but I do wish more Americans realized hard work is essential to a strong backbone, both physically and economically.  I wish more Americans felt the need to actually have a backbone, which relates spiritually and morally.  The term backbone has so much more meaning than this image portrays!  Maybe I'm ranting, maybe I read too much into it, or maybe the reality is just too overwhelming.

The backbone of our society really does seem to be about sex and relaxing . . .  And without a doubt, America needs to wake up!

Waiting Isn't Doing Without or Longing

This "waiting" covered a number of years, but it wasn't a situation of doing without or longing.  Before becoming a believer and entering ministry, I was a funeral director.  The firm for which I worked recovered and transported a great many coroner cases for several counties.  Not to be too graphic, but many of the cases were far from pristine circumstances and our company had a black Silverado pickup with a shell for some of the messier situations.  This was the late eighties.  My boss knew he could send me alone to a site and I'd receive help, whereas if he sent a man, he'd have to send two, because they wouldn't be so apt to receive assistance from other responders.  Yes it was sexists and that's just the way it was.  So, frequently I drove the Silverado.  I really enjoyed driving that vehicle.  I'm a General Motors girl at heart, so I've also enjoyed Cadillac driving, yet I digress . . .

When I left that career and was living in town, I had no need for a truck.  Down the road, Mr. B had just purchased a truck the week before he met me, so after we married, I still had no need for a truck.  I wasn't crazy about his little S10, but it served it's purpose.  Actually, driving his S10 on the Interstate felt a lot like driving a go-cart at Nascar, but again, it wasn't my deal and it served it's purpose, until things just started needing repairs . . . the nickel and diming had officially begun.  That's when Mr. B mentioned looking for a new used truck.  I knew I didn't want a Ford, and although everyone loved their Dodge Rams, I could take 'em or leave 'em.  In checking the trucks made by General Motors, there were basically five beyond another S10.  There was the mid-sized Chevy Colorado, the full sized GMC Sierra, the Escalade, the Avalanche, and Chevy is still making the Silverado.

There is no need for a new vehicle, so I did some checking for used trucks.  As you have probably already guessed, there is now a Chevy Silverado in the Land of Goshen.  As I think back to that first one I drove, all those years ago, it certainly wasn't a popular style, it was the way it handled and the dependability that appealed to me.  It had a rugged stability that felt durable and dependable.  They still build them that way!  I didn't spend 25 years wishing I had a Silverado, I had no need for a truck, but I also didn't spend the money on other things.  Thankfully when the time came that the truck we did have began to need repairs, we didn't allow it to become a money pit.  A mechanic was delighted to purchase the S10, and I'm thankful to have not settled for something unnecessary along the way.    

Had I purchased a Silverado back when I first liked the one I drove at work:  A. it would be very old by now, when I actually need one; and B. it would have undoubtedly involved payments, to have a truck for which I had no need, at the time.

The Dream

When my friend called me the other evening to let me know her husband had passed, it was so difficult to hold back the tears.  They were truly "a couple," and one I admired greatly.  Even though he was a believer and she is a woman of great faith, my heart broke for her.  Fifty doesn't sound young to everyone, but dying just short of your 50th birthday is young and becoming a widow at 50 does seem early.  As she and I talked briefly, both guarding our voices from cracking, she made a simple and eloquent statement.  She said, "We got to live our dream."

I have no idea if they are members of the "Other 1 Percent" or if their due diligence, good management, and land acquisition has caused them to be blessed of our Creator, self made "One Percenters."  Their children are now grown and married with children of their own, well on their way to being the respected successes their parents became.

There were two adorable anecdotal accounts the widow had shared with the minister who shared them through the service.  These two people were married two months after this gentleman farmer graduated from high school.  In a day and time of throw away relationships, they married at 18 and were blessed to celebrate a 31st wedding anniversary, this past summer.  First, was the marriage proposal.   After he got off work, he went to see the love of his life where she worked.  He waited for her break time, and they went outdoors.  He was a man of few words.  He said, "I'm going to buy cows, do you want to get married?"   The minister went on to tell how those two kids went to Wal-Mart bought her bridal set and his band, married, went to Branson for their honeymoon and after two days, said, "Enough of this, let's get our life started."

The second memory she shared was also one of precious innocence and strong determination, from her now more mature perspective.  When they got home from their honeymoon, the young husband announced to his new bride, they needed to talk about money.  She sat down to listen, unsure of what she would hear.  He told her he had a savings account.  She asked him what that was . . . He then stated he had $3000.00.  All these years later, she's laughed telling that story saying, when he said $3000.00, she thought she'd married Bill Gates.

Sunset on their farm

While most of their generation and the one before them chased "the American dream," those two 18 year old kids did invest that savings account into Jersey cows and land.  The dairy farm has earned them a nice living, but more importantly, they actually worked the land, tended the animals and as she said, "lived their dream."