"Just For Fun"
From my book!
"Getting Rich - By The Numbers"
We were very poor. I could tell you poor stories all day long, but just two will suffice to give you a picture of what the times were like. I was an only child and being nosey I made it a point to hear everything that was said by my parents. On one occasion, my father and mother were having a terrible argument. As it turned out my father was furious because my mother was peeling potatoes and the peelings were too thick and therefore wasteful, that's how tight the pennies were!
On another occasion my teacher ordered me to go to the principal's office, she didn't tell me why. In my mind, the principal was on the same level as God Almighty. When I stopped trembling he informed me that the school had a fund to pay for shoes for kids that didn't have any. Being egotistical since birth, I quickly responded that I had shoes at home. His question was, "then why are you wearing rain boots?" (during a June heat wave). When I told my parents about the incident, my dad was not understanding. His thoughtful remarks were, "muchacho pendejo!" which is loosely translated as "you stupid ass!". I don't know where the money came from, but the next day I wore new shoes to school. I rolled my pant cuffs a bit so the principal could see that I really didn't need his free shoes.
Ben V. Rodriguez
From my book!
"Getting Rich - By The Numbers"
We were very poor. I could tell you poor stories all day long, but just two will suffice to give you a picture of what the times were like. I was an only child and being nosey I made it a point to hear everything that was said by my parents. On one occasion, my father and mother were having a terrible argument. As it turned out my father was furious because my mother was peeling potatoes and the peelings were too thick and therefore wasteful, that's how tight the pennies were!
On another occasion my teacher ordered me to go to the principal's office, she didn't tell me why. In my mind, the principal was on the same level as God Almighty. When I stopped trembling he informed me that the school had a fund to pay for shoes for kids that didn't have any. Being egotistical since birth, I quickly responded that I had shoes at home. His question was, "then why are you wearing rain boots?" (during a June heat wave). When I told my parents about the incident, my dad was not understanding. His thoughtful remarks were, "muchacho pendejo!" which is loosely translated as "you stupid ass!". I don't know where the money came from, but the next day I wore new shoes to school. I rolled my pant cuffs a bit so the principal could see that I really didn't need his free shoes.
Ben V. Rodriguez
