This is just a way to raise the capital to start a bigger
business. I’m risking it all on my own abilities. If it works,
I get all the profits instead of a wage and I can move on to
better things. What’s more, if it works well enough, I’ve
got more to pass on to my kids than my parents did. If it
doesn’t . . . well, I’m no worse off than when I started.”
“You’ve got kids?”
“Who, me? No … at least, not yet. Maybe someday.
Right now, the way things are going. I can’t even afford a
steady girlfriend, if you know what I mean.”
Actually, I didn’t. I had plenty of money personally, but
no girlfriend. Therefore, I didn’t have the vaguest idea what
the upkeep on one would be.
“Well, I’d say it’s a noble cause you have there . . .
wanting to build something to leave for your kids.”
At that he laughed, flashing those teeth again.
“Don’t try to make me sound too good,” he said. “I
won’t kid you. I’d like a few of the nicer things in life
myself . . . like staying at fancy hotels and driving around
in cabs. I’d use up some of the profits before I passed them
on to my kids.”
I was suddenly aware of the differences in our economic
standing . . . that what he was dreaming about I tended to
take for granted. The awareness made me uncomfortable.
“Yeah . . . well, I’ve got to be going now. Oh! What
was it, anyway?”
MYTH-NOMERS AND IM-PERVECTIONS 89
“What was what?”
“The name your parents gave you.”
“It wasn’t that hot, really,” he said, making a face. “My
friends just call me J. R.”
With that, I beat a hasty retreat to my waiting cab.
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180