Old times...
I was havin’ a visit with a longtime friend the other day and as it often happens when I get together with someone my age, we usually spend some time talkin’ about how “it used to be.”
It just so happened that it was the day we both got our Social Security check in the mail.
We agreed we would always remember when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president and he thought it was a good idea for everybody who was working should start saving part of their earnings every pay day, and soon Social Security began.
Some folks gripped, but it has worked out fine since we’ve come to the age we don’t feel like getting up every morning to go to work or try to all night and sleep all day.
In our talking, I told her about the time I went to the P.O. on the usual “pay day” but my check wasn’t there. The next day it was, and lo and behold, the next morning I opened my mail box again and there was another check!
Word got around what had happened and I started gettin’ all kinds of advice from folks.
One or two warned me by sayin’, “Don’t you dare cash that other check and spend it, or you’ll end up in jail.” Others promised they would come visit me if I went to jail.
Then another said, “Oh, go ahead and spend it the way the government does things, they’ll never miss it.”
And one said, “As slow as the government is, you’ll be long gone before they get it right.”
And then there were folks who just shook their heads and said, “Beats all I ever heard of.”
I felt like the fella who said he wanted to at least hold his check for a few minutes, at least feel it ‘cause it lasted such a short time.
Well, it took a while but it all got worked out, and I’ve not had any trouble since.
I’m always glad when “pay day” comes, and I thank the Lord for Franklin D’s idea.
As I was saying, when we old friends get together we often talk about how things used to be.