If You Want A Car, You'll Need A Job!!!

It's mid Summer 2023.

2023 sounds like something out of the Jetson's cartoon from my youth. When I was a kid, The Jetson's was a futuristic cartoon that predicted many of the gadgets we see and use today! Computers, robots, face time, space travel and something that may become a reality in the not too distant future...FLYING CARS!!!!! In school, back in the 1960's, it was predicted that my generation would be the first to fly an automobile!!! I was thrilled by the idea as a child, but now as an aging baby boomer, I can tell you with all my heart and soul, that it scares the shit out of me!!! Have you noticed how poorly people drive today ??? Today, no one uses their turn signal...everyone is only concerned with themselves. Can you imagine several hundred drivers deciding to put their car into the FLY MODE and begin scrambling for air space??? Most drivers can't even keep their cars in the correct lane on the ground!!! What will they do in the air? There will be crash after crash and a lot of death.

A large portion of the American population as we know it has for one reason or another, become selfish, isolated, dumbed down and quite frankly, STUPID!!!! I'm sure there are many reasons for this. Technology has promoted many to live in a virtual world devoid of reality. Many kids have lost the skill to communicate in real time with face to face relationships. Schools have to shoulder part of the blame by not actually teaching students what they NEED to know to survive. Instead of teaching civics, social studies, history, math and other curriculum, many pockets of the US are focusing attention on racial issues, political agendas and sexual propaganda. With the Covid epidemic, many students have fallen behind in their learning from mandatory school closings. We are far behind other countries.

Leaders were quick to close down our economy as a defense against the spreading of Covid 19 and more and more evidence is proving just how wrong that decision was. Keeping workers at home and closing businesses killed our economy. Throwing trillions of dollars out there for people to stay home has caused massive inflation!!! With all that, many young people and many workers in general, have decided not to work at all. Kids are staying at home in their parents basements and parents are letting them stay for free!!!! That's not how it was when I was living in THE ORANGE ROOM!!

I'm amazed with the kind of cars kids drive today!!! They all look better that any car I ever owned until I was in my late 30's. When I was about to get my drivers license back in the 70s, I got the talk all teenagers got back then. " If you want a car, you'll need a job". That sounded fair. "How about that car"? I thought to myself. " Are you going to buy me a car"? "Maybe I can have yours"? Dad replied, "Ah no...but I know of a car that will be just fine for you". "It's one you can afford too". "What"?

I can't afford a car!!! "I don't have a job". "That's right," my Dad continued. "I found one in Elmwood at a junk yard". "It doesn't run either, but I can fix it up for ya." "it's $30.00 and you can pay me back after you get yourself a job." (Gulp) "Thanks Dad."

So the day came to pick up my first car. We drove to the for mentioned junk yard in Elmwood and there it was!!!!! I thought I heard the sound of an angel's harp when I first laid eyes on it!!! WOW!! It was very old looking even for 1975, but it had something kind of special. it was a dull red 1960 Ford Falcon. It had all the special features of a car that any kid could ask for!!!!

Bald tires, no seat belts, no air conditioning, no heat, metal dashboard, no FM radio, BUT....THE AM RADIO WORKED!!!! So with ME, BEHIND THE WHEEL, Dad hooked it up to his car and TOWED THE FALCON AND ME from Elmwood to Mardell Manor. I was feeling on top of the world. I lit a Winston red and smoked it while cranking the radio as it played, GOOD LOVING GONE BAD by Bad Company. I rested my left arm outside the drivers side while my cigarette smoke bellowed out the window and my long hair blew in the wind!!!!

Within a few weeks, I had passed my drivers test and Dad had my first car running. I called it THE PIMPLE since it looked like a red zit!!! The only thing left for me to do was look for a job. I didn't know where to go or where to look. I didn't get any help from friends or family. It was basically just a "stick your finger in the air and go for it" mentality. That mentality remained the same for the rest of my life.

At the time, I wasn't even familiar with Peoria or its roads or how to get from point A to point B, but somehow on my job hunt, I saw a HELP WANTED sign on the marquee at LUMS EXPRESS in Sheridan Village. I walked in and asked to fill out an application from one of the girls who worked there. I heard a few of the other girls giggling along with the manager, ( Vicki. I still remember her name ) and before I could answer," where I saw myself in five years", I was hired!!!! BUT....my shoulder length hair would need to be tied up under a hair net!!! So embarrassing!!! Oh well, I had my Job. I think I earned $2.10 cents an hour but, I was just damn happy to have a job so I could have some gas money. I never considered it a career or anything.

Fast forward to the present and no one wants to work any more, especially a fast food job. So many businesses have closed or continued to work under extremely short staffed circumstances. Quality has suffered across the board. It's sad to see what our country has become. There's no work ethic anymore. Much of our youth have become selfish, entitled and snotty. When I worked for PNC bank, I wrote a lot of car loans for customers and it was common place for a parent to be sitting at my desk with their child co-signing on a car. Many times the child seemed to be the boss with the parent, acting only a necessary pawn in the process. These kids were getting NICE CARS TOO!!! $20,000 cars or more!!!! I'd listen to them dictate their demands to their parent and chuckle to myself, thinking about my $30.00 first car.... THE PIMPLE.... and the rules that my parents laid down for me. Thanks Mom and Dad.

Just another tale of acquired wisdom from The ORANGE ROOM.