Add news
News Every Day |

Solometo’s Class: Money

One morning, as we slouched into class, Solometo was cueing up a record player he’d set up in the corner of the room. Soon, we heard “Money” from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Solometo walked over to the chalkboard as we settled into our uncomfortable wooden seats. He scratched onto the board: What is money? Write for 20 minutes. Then group discussion.

I kept what I’d written that morning. Kept it next to the folded bills and cards. I didn’t write for 20 minutes. More like five. 

“Money is the thing that lets you live without overwhelming fear or live each day with the terror that it might be your last. The thing that convinces you tomorrow is okay or tomorrow is terrible. Money is the dirty paper that goes from hand to hand, into register drawers and pockets and stacks and the same paper that gets handed over when a thief has a weapon. It’s the thing that some hide under beds or in closets. Sometimes the paper gets folded up into little squares, or stuck in socks. Money is the thing that lets you in. Money is the thing that keeps you out. Worshipping money will make you miserable. Thinking about money too much will turn you into a human calculator, all transactions. We all need enough. But most of us can’t stop thinking we need more.”

After I wrote, I sat at my desk wishing money didn’t exist. Then I began to look around at my classmates, thinking about whether or not they’d spend their lives thinking too much about money.

Considering it was the 1970s for most of my childhood, I was lucky my family wasn’t broke. My dad worked at the Athens Machine tire plant for about 20 years, until it closed in ‘87. When it shut down, he had nowhere to go with his tire-molding expertise. A local auto shop that didn’t need an old mechanic but took him in anyway. With the constant reminder of the job, snaking its way through his body, up and down his spine and into his hands. Lived another 15 years that didn’t seem so golden and then died at 68.

Back in the spring of ‘83, sitting there in that god-awful wooden slab that was called a desk back in Solometo’s class, I’d no idea my family would be struggling by the end of the 1980s. No idea that I’d have to drop out of college in ‘87 to work fulltime for the town as a spring-fall landscaper and winter snow-blower. No idea that my mom’s medical bills from her cancer treatments would be hanging over my now-unemployed dad’s head. Back then, I had a job at Arby’s chopping up and grilling roast beef, making just enough money to see Return of the Jedi with my girlfriend Lucy—I probably saw it 10 times—and then hit the go-kart track with Luke.

Solometo wound us up with that question and then let us Athenians spin. Athens, Ohio. Little town on the Hocking River, which flows southeast down into the Ohio’s waters. Our tone wasn’t nearly as bible-toting and red-necked as some of the other small Ohio towns, since Ohio U was in our backyard. That’s how Solometo came to us, I’m pretty sure. Getting a Master’s degree at the university.

My then-girlfriend Lucy, her mom had inherited oil money from her absent father. Died in Texas, but had a life insurance policy that he left to Lucy and her brother—along with his new kids. Lucy took the inheritance and invested most of it. Solometo told her that the airline and military industries were the places that wouldn’t go down. I remember sitting with Solometo that day we wrote about money. Lucy came and met me in his room after school. He told her airlines. He’d heard about Boeing and the headquarters in Seattle. She invested the money. In 1983 it was nothing. Lucy went to Kenyon. Became a literary editor. Worked at a few publishing houses. Taught community college. We’d been high school sweethearts. That was it. She married some author who, briefly famous in the 1990s. Forget his name. They divorced a while ago. Think she had two kids. Lucy wrote me a letter a few months ago. She sold that Boeing stock in 2017. Set for life. Retired at 51. She asked if I needed any financial help. I do. But I couldn’t just ask her for her money.

The more time a person spends thinking about money, the less I’m interested in them. Those that are forced to spend their work-time thinking often about money, because it’s their damn job, those people have a hard time NOT thinking about their own money during their personal time. I don’t know if Lucy spent her life watching that Boeing stock rise. But I know if she did spend her days watching it, she sure as hell didn’t stop watching stocks after she had more than enough to stop focusing on the money. Maybe I should have dinner with her and see what’s happened since the windfall.

Симферополь

«Вынуждены приобретать то, на что хватает накоплений». Комнату в Симферополе купить проще, чем в Севастополе

Реклама
Top 6 nutrition questions men should ask themselves after 40

To maintain health and remain full of energy, men will be helped by this

Exclusive: Chainguard secures $356 million Series D as valuation soars to $3.5 billion

Texas immigration lawyer, a U.S. citizen, in DHS mixup gets email telling him to leave immediately or risk deportation: ‘I just thought it was absurd’

Apple aims to build most iPhones for U.S. in India by end-2026

World Champion’s Team Reveal ‘The Truth’ Of Conor Benn Sparring After Being Branded A Quitter

Ria.city
Реклама
  • ИП Попов А.П.
  • ИНН: 602715631406
Ревматолог: "27 апреля 2024 в г.Вашингтон запущена квота"

Каждый человек с больными суставами имеет право получить...






Реклама
  • ИП Попов А.П.
  • ИНН: 602715631406
Осторожно, 1 стакан сжигает 3 кг жира! Запишите рецепт...

Вот это точно убьет лишний вес! -17кг за 5 дней! Перед сном съешьте...


Реклама
  • ИП Попов А.П.
  • ИНН: 602715631406
Ревматолог: "27 апреля 2024 в г.Вашингтон запущена квота"

Каждый человек с больными суставами имеет право получить...

Read also

Southwest Airlines passenger stripped naked, pooped on seat: report

Eva Longoria Pops On Chocolate Brown T-Strap Heels at Platino de Honor Awards in Madrid

Parishioners remember Pope Francis at memorial Mass services in Chicago

News, articles, comments, with a minute-by-minute update, now on Today24.pro

News Every Day

Texas immigration lawyer, a U.S. citizen, in DHS mixup gets email telling him to leave immediately or risk deportation: ‘I just thought it was absurd’

Today24.pro — latest news 24/7. You can add your news instantly now — here


News Every Day

Apple aims to build most iPhones for U.S. in India by end-2026



Sports today


Новости тенниса
WTA

Азаренко вышла в ⅛ финала парного разряда турнира WTA-1000 в Мадриде



Спорт в России и мире
Москва

Сауль Гуарирапа выводит ЦСКА вперёд в матче против «Спартака»



All sports news today





Sports in Russia today

Москва

Сауль Гуарирапа выводит ЦСКА вперёд в матче против «Спартака»


Новости России

Game News

The RoboCop: Rogue City expansion that looks like Dredd will bring more trouble to your PC in July


Реклама
Top 6 nutrition questions men should ask themselves after 40

To maintain health and remain full of energy, men will be helped by this

Реклама
The most beautiful beach towns with cheap living

A huge number of people around the world dream of one day breaking out of the daily routine

Russian.city


Авто

Эксперты НПС выступили на Национальном форуме инфраструктурных компаний


Губернаторы России
Chanel

Chanel и Rolex зарегистрировали в Роспатенте товарные знаки


Почта России в честь 80-летия Победы выпустила памятную марку

В Грозном наградили победителей благотворительного детского фестиваля «Добрая волна»

Чернобыльский след

В Сети появилось видео с первой встречи певицы Валерии с новорожденным внуком


Наталья Сергунина: Внедрение современных технологий повышает туристическую привлекательность Москвы

Пользователи обсуждают фотосессию Олеси Иванченко: «Тимати в сексуальном страхе от таких снимков»

Фото Тимати с возлюбленной высмеяли в сети со словами «купите ему табуретку»

Алсу, «Иванушки International», Вадим Самойлов, Сергей Бобунец, Лолита и другие артисты выступили на концерте «Золотые Хиты МУЗ-ТВ»


Блинкова стартовала с победы на турнире WTA 1000 в Мадриде и сыграет с Соболенко во втором круге

Теннисистка Потапова вышла во второй круг турнира в Мадриде

Мадрид (ATP). 1-й круг. Сафиуллин сыграет с Риндеркнешем, Бублик – с Микельсеном, Монфис встретится с Гойо, Фоньини – с Дьере, Чилич – с Бонзи

Александрова обыграла Данилович во втором круге турнира в Испании


Реклама
The most beautiful beach towns with cheap living

A huge number of people around the world dream of one day breaking out of the daily routine


Синоптики спрогнозировали похолодание до +5 градусов в Москве 27 апреля

Лето откладывается? Какая погода будет в регионах России в начале мая

DOCA-2025 «Впустите»: Пресс-показ фестиваля современного искусства в ИГУМО

Российские хоккеисты и бойцы сразились на льду Москвы в уникальном турнире


США будут негодовать: Путин получил от Китая роскошный "подарок"

Сауль Гуарирапа выводит ЦСКА вперёд в матче против «Спартака»

Кожа висит, джинсы пора выкинуть: Константин Меладзе появился на публике

Новостные каналы в Telegram. Топ каналов Telegram. Telegram каналы новости.


«Оклахома» пробилась в четвертьфинал плей-офф НБА

МИД озвучил свою позицию по поводу интервью французского посла в России

«Глупо предлагать креветки»: Вучич показал жареного поросенка для сына Трампа

Биолог предостерег о вероятном нашествии комаров в Центральной России


Реклама
Top 6 nutrition questions men should ask themselves after 40

To maintain health and remain full of energy, men will be helped by this


Путин в России и мире


Реклама
The most beautiful beach towns with cheap living

A huge number of people around the world dream of one day breaking out of the daily routine





Персональные новости Russian.city
Виктор Цой

Полиция задержала вандала, разрисовавшего стену Цоя на Арбате



News Every Day

World Champion’s Team Reveal ‘The Truth’ Of Conor Benn Sparring After Being Branded A Quitter




Friends of Today24

Музыкальные новости

Персональные новости