When I was a kid, I thought I would own everything. Big toys, cars, boats, motorcycles, all that JAZZ..
Well, it started about age 13. I bought my first boat. 10 foot long... fast...slick...beat everyone on the bay.(So I thought) I brought it home on a kids wagon. I was dragging it toward m house when my dad came by and asked what I was doing....
You see, I worked cleaning out basements, polishing cars, cutting lawns, helping people doing anything that would make money. I saved up $100.00 and bought my friend's boat & motor. Here I am, walking down the middle of the street, pulling this wagon with a boat, Like I said and my dad is still looking at me saying "What have you got there?" Well, I told him. MY BOAT!!
When I moved to the town I live in, I was 10 years old. We live near the water. I would ride my bike to the bay and dream of owning a boat. My dad asked if I could swim.. I couldn't. Dad said I couldn't own a boat if I could not swim. I joined Boy Scouts when I was eleven and went to scout camp...
first day there, you take a swim test. Needless to say, I failed. It took 28 days of pleading, coaxing, pushing and just plain yelling to get me into the water and swim. Now there is swimming and there is swimming. If you can get across a 50 foot length of water without touching the bottom, that is swimming...I could do that.!! My dad asked if I could rescue someone in a boat if there was a problem..NNOOO I couldn't do that. Next summer I went to Boy Scout camp and learned how to rescue people.. Big shot now was 12 years old!!
My dad said I could now buy a boat. YEA FOR ME!!! He asked me what size, what kind and how I was going to pay for the boat and the space to keep it in....Thirteen year olds don't think of things like that....
Now you know why I was cleaning basements, polishing cars and helping people with chores. I also found that you had to put gas into boats. I needed life jackets, rope, an anchor and a fire extinguisher too.
Five boats later, I stopped trying to fill that hole with money and got out of the boat part of my life...
Did I tell you about the MOTORCYCLES???
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