On a cool summer day I drove to Wisconsin. I had a speaking engagement.  Along the road I saw signs for Turtle Lake Casino.  At that time I’d only been to a casino or two.

While driving home I realized that I was hungry.  I had seen a Subway restaurant along the road and that seemed like a good idea.  Then Turtle Lake Casino came to mind.  I knew I had just been paid, but I only had four dollars in cash.  It seemed kinda silly to walk into a casino with only four dollars, and food seemed like a much better idea.

When I was a child I loved black licorice, cherry licorice, chocolate, and, well, almost all candy.  Candy was tasty, and in short supply in my house.  Candy, I believed, brought me happiness.  I wanted candy, and I needed cash to buy candy. 

I picked up pennies in the ground, checked phone booths and candy machines for unclaimed change.  I was always on the lookout for stray money.

Stray Money

When I was eleven or so I went with a youth leader and a group of boys for pizza.  I must admit I’m not certain what my previous experiences were in restaurants, but I know what I did that night.

November is the month in which people gather for All Saints’ Day, Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving, but combined they don’t capture the attention of Americans more than “Black Sunday.”

I’m Not Opposed To Marketing, I’m Opposed To My Confused Values

Some Christian churches celebrate All Saints’ Day, and some do not. Millions of people voted on Election Day, but most people did not.  Millions recognize Veterans Day and Thanksgiving, but others prefer not to celebrate holidays connected to conflicts. 1

Marketers find many ways to make money on those holidays, but they all pale in comparison to “Black Friday.”

Black Friday and Black Friday week ads are everywhere. 

I’m not immune to greed.

I want an iPod!  I’ve never had one.
I drive a ’96 minivan.  I want a new car.
I want  Batman: Arkham City.  It looks so fun!
I want Dave Matthews Band Eurpoe 2009 CD/DVD collection.  I love that band!
I want a bottle of Angel cologne.  It makes me smell so good.
I want a Wii to play games with Amy!

While we’re inundated with marketing strategies this week, I was determined not to shop for what I don’t need.  In order to cut my greed I decided to cultivate generosity by remembering what I was thankful for this past year.

I’m not a hunter, but I can relate to the feelings that many of my hunting friends have enjoyed.  I love thinking about food, the hunt for food, capturing my food, preparing and consuming my food.

My love for food — like many loves — can easily be mismanaged.

Mismanaged MMMmmms

I loved Arby’s “5 for $5.95″ deal.  I remember sitting in an Arby’s with a freshly filled bag of Arby’s Beef and Cheddar sandwiches — toasted bun, piled high with sliced beef, a doll up of tasty cheddar cheese, complimented by Arby’s Sauce and Horsey Sauce.  Since Arby’s no longer sells that amazing sandwich a quick search turned up the nutrition information. 1

Yesterday was my wife Amy’s birthday. 

Amy is one of the most caring and unselfish people I know.  She is often a benchmark of selflessness.  More than once I thought I should wear a W>W>A>D> bracelet to remind me to ask myself, “What Would Amy Do?”, in order to overcome some of my natural selfishness.

What is one way that I can intentionally give up some of my selfishness today?

I try to have high moral standards, but I think that question is a fair question to ask every day.

My selfishness unintentionally compromises the health of my relationships.

We’ve had a garage sale at our house this week.

I’ve noticed two things that disturb me. 

First, far too many of the things in our house arrived in our house because of my greed. 

Second, I am not alone.  Many of our customers bought with greedy abandon.

“For the LOVE of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have … pierced themselves with many sorrows…

so run

from all these evil things.” *

Greed is enticing.
Greed is deceitful.
Greed is deceptive.
Greed is a trap.

The summer of my sophomore year of high school I had to go to summer school.  I didn’t need the credits.  My parents wanted me to keep learning, keep me busy and help me to stay out of trouble.  It was a wise parenting strategy.  I loved to learn and summer school had smaller classes and mostly stress-free.

I wasn’t alone, but I was in the minority.  Most of the students didn’t want to be there.  Some kids resented being in summer school.  Other kids felt defective being there.

Defective

I am the grandson of a depression survivor.  My maternal grandfather Ray Brausam was frugal man.  I admire how he found ways to save money. 

One of the ways he saved money was finding uses for things other people discarded.  He sold cans and newspapers to recyclers to earn extra cash.   My dad later helped me to do the same thing.

By Nature I Am A “Saver”

I am no where near as frugal as my grandfather, nor as smart as my dad, but I did manage to take the saving strategy to an extreme in the wrong direction. 

While many people try to avoid responsibility, Stanley Baker set another standard.

As reported in World Magazine, Stanley Baker bought a book at garage sale. The parking ticket he found inside the book was dated 1975. “And despite the fact that the parking ticket wasn’t issued to him—and was now 36 years past due—the Pentwater, Mich., 89-year-old figured that he might as well pay.”

So last month, Baker put the $1 payment for the 1975 ticket in the original envelope along with a note that read, “Better late than never,” and mailed it…”