Monday, January 21, 2013

Importance of Breakfast

   I have been going out to breakfast with a friend of mine from when you could get a good breakfast for about $2.25.  I remember when you could get bacon and eggs, toast and hash browns for a dollar.
That same breakfast today is about nine dollars so there is a pretty simple mathematical correlation:
Breakfast is related to the minimum wage, within a quarter to be exact.  The minimum wage in Oregon is $9.05, Washington to the North is a little higher.  Some States are a lot lower and some cities have their own set minimum wage.  San Fransisco is over $10.
   We used to work together every day.  I was officially "his boss" as I owned the company but there were a lot of jobs I did that would not have gotten done without him.  We would go out to breakfast once a week, discuss the past week and anticipate the work ahead.  When I quit the construction business, he did too.  When I bought my welder, he did too and we would do small jobs and arty stuff independently and collaborate, working together on the bigger jobs.  We always had breakfast together when we did these bigger jobs, sharing the tasks, the tools, the labor and the breakfast.  Sometimes he would buy and sometimes I would buy. We were working.  The price of a breakfast tied to minimum wage, it was like giving the other an hour.
   It is different now that we are both retired and living on Social Security.  We still go out to breakfast but normally only once a month, the second Wednesday of the month, to be precise: payday!  One time he will buy and the next month it is my turn.  The exception to this is when either of us finds some kind of work where we need the help of the other and can work together.  That being a cause for celebration, we always look forward to breakfast.
   Least you think that I hang out with liberals my friend is pretty conservative, mostly but not always, votes the opposite that I do, recently joined the NRA and has a concealed gun permit (and actually carries the damn thing!) and drives a big diesel pick up truck.  And yes, of course we talk politics!
What else is going on?  Oh, we do the me, me, me and you, you, you thing.  What I am up to and what he is working on but that is pretty much done by the time the waiter takes our order.  By the time the food arrives we are deep into politics and the world situation.  The secret to our on-going relationship and growing friendship is that we actually listen to each other.  If he finds a good book he will give it to
me when he has finished it.  Sometimes we have exchanged as many as 5 books in a week!  We share our labor, the breakfast and our ideas, make fun of each other when ideas cannot be backed up and always research further for even more discussion at the next breakfast.  Sometimes we catch ourselves
in agreement and sometimes we can sense the other weakening.  I would like to say that it is never personal but it always is.  I really want to know why he feels the way he does and he does that of me also.
   He expected that I would cringe when he told me recently that he had joined the NRA. Not at all, I told him!  My dad was a card caring member of the NRA!  When my dad died I inherited about 6 or 7 guns and rifles.  The funny thing was is that he didn't have a single bullet in the house, no ammunition
at all.  My dad like the mechanics and weight of guns.  He did not like to shoot things, not even targets.
He did believe in the 2nd amendment but not in a militarized society.  If you want militias and free access to guns and less government you end up like Somalia!  Oh, there was a discussion so we went that way for the rest of breakfast!
   I look forward to our breakfasts together.  I think friendships need feeding.


2 comments:

Optimistic Existentialist said...

I always look forward to breakfast. Best meal of the day. I love the way you close your post "friendships need feeding". Powerful quote!!

Jerry Carlin said...

Thank you, my Optimistic friend, for letting me know you stopped by for a visit. Encouraging!