making do

 Was thinking about when I was a child and how my parents shaped my attitudes and thoughts. I was remembering when we had pancakes for supper. That was always a treat because dad did the cooking. It was something different and as a kid I was convinced there was something better about those pancakes because of that. The truth was we had pancakes for supper because there was little else to eat. Feeding four kids wasn't easy. Still, we all thought it was great thing. It was special. Dad also cooked the scallops, smooched the clams, and made fritters. All of those items were also "cheap" ways to feed us. That seafood was readily available. It was beef and pork that were the more expensive items on the menu. Had to buy them at the store. Thing is, we never knew about that, we just believed it was a treat, something special to be enjoyed. 

 I didn't always agree with everything my parents said or thought but had to concede the reasoning behind their thinking was right. You did pay more for a name brand and that they weren't always worth it. Nothing wrong with getting your clothes at Brills store. Brills was a local clothing store. What we didn't know was that Brills sold mostly factory seconds. Those clothing items that hadn't passed inspector #32 for some reason. The stitching may be off a bit, or a pocket misaligned, but those clothes were still serviceable, and cheaper. The closest department store to where I lived was 25 miles away. I grew accustomed to using the mom and pop stores. The "expensive" stores were uptown and for the rich people. Their kids wore the latest fashions. But as I was told often enough, a fool and their money soon part company. 

 We were a DIY family before anyone thought of calling it that. We just called it, making do. You bought used, repaired what you had, or built it yourself if at all possible. I made push carts out of 2x4's and milk crates using the wheels off my sisters' baby carriages. We made slingshots and kites. Made tree forts out of whatever materials we could find and generally entertained ourselves. We fixed everything except the television set and the tv man came only after we had determined it wasn't just a tube. Tested lots of tubes before calling that guy. Call a plumber? Why would you want to do that? An electrician? There are only three wires to be concerned about, easy enough to figure out. 

 Now education was a fine thing, but it wasn't the best thing. There are a lot of educated damn fools in the world. If that education didn't help you fix something, make you some money in some fashion, it wasn't worth much at all. Talking about stuff isn't getting anything done. You have to do it to understand it. 

 That is what I was told. Understanding how something worked was the key. If you don't know how it works, keep your hands out of it. If you can't build the house don't try and tell me how to do it. That's the problem with those educated folks, they don't really know how things work at all. Yeah, looks good on paper but that doesn't mean it will work. Well, that's why people go to college in the first place. They don't want to actually work for a living, they just want to tell others what to do. Sit behind a desk somewhere and be a big wheel. Well, let me tell you something, wheels roll through excrement and dogs urinate on them! Not exactly the way I heard that, but the analogy is the same.  

 What I was taught was to be self-sufficient and confident in my thinking. I'm not intimidated by wealth or education. Expect nothing and you won't be disappointed. You get pretty much what you put out there. What goes around, comes around. If you are waiting for others to give you permission, you will have a long wait. I don't need your permission! All I need to be concerned with are the consequences. It's all risk and reward. If I figure it is worth the risk, I'll go for it, if not, I don't. Not a very difficult philosophy to understand. 

 It's true that "no man is an island, entire of itself" as John Donne points out in his famous poem. We are all a part of the whole and as such have obligations to that whole. That doesn't mean we should be dependent upon that, however. All it means is that the obligation exists. You know it isn't so much what we are taught, but what we adopt that makes us who we are. The willingness to adapt is crucial to survival. You might say, making do. Sometimes we see more by the absence of something than we do when it is before our very eyes.