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DawsonOpinion
WEDNESDAY, June 6, 2018
This is a page of opinion — ours, yours and
others. Signed columns and cartoons are the
opinions of the writers and artists, and they
may not reflect our views.
"He said to give you this."
A child entering the labor force
“I can get a job when I turn
14,” my child announced one
evening. “That’s just a few
months away.”
“Why are you wanting to
get a job?” I asked.
“Because,” he began, look
ing me squarely in the eye.
“There are a lot of things I
want that cost a lot of money
and I don’t want to ask you to
buy them for me.”
I have to admit, a lot of
emotions hit me with this
statement, the first being that
my child was getting old
enough to enter the work
force.
The second was that I
admired my child for wanting
to work for the things he
wanted.
He recognizes what he
wants is kind of pricey and he
doesn’t expect me to pay for
it.
I started working at 15, for
pretty much the same reason.
My weekly pilgrimages to
the mall had taken a toll on
Mama’s finances. Her credit
cards were given a better
workout than her Jane Fonda
tape and she could have saved
a lot of time by just having a
huge chunk of her check
deposited in the bank
accounts of Macy’s and The
Limited.
Clothing, makeup, books,
shoes, and music were staples
and necessities of my teenage
life, and unlike now, where I
tend to be more frugal, every
thing had to be name brand
and top of the line.
Now that I am paying for it,
I find myself realizing L’oreal
can cover my freckles as well
as Lancome.
But, back then, when
Mama was paying for it, was
a totally different story.
Until one day, she said
something she rarely said:
No.
“W-what?” I asked, dumb-
SUDIE CROUCH
Columnist
founded.
“That’s too expensive. I
have already bought you
jeans that were $100 - what
made those jeans so much?
Are they stitched with gold
thread? I can’t get this for you
this week. Maybe ever.”
I don’t even remember
what it was that I was want
ing. Back then, clothes were
expensive and disposable.
Mama would buy me some
thing and the next month, it
was considered out of fashion
and discarded.
“You have to clothe me!” I
cried when she told me no.
“Clothe you, yes; spend
ridiculous amounts of money
and go into debt over one pair
ofbluejeans-no.”
“What am I going to do?” I
cried.
“You’ll figure something
out,” she said.
And I did.
I got a job.
Granted, I had been ‘work
ing’ since I was in kindergar
ten, writing up invoices for
my grandfather and uncle and
taking phone messages. I was
paid a dollar a week and copi
ous amounts of candy.
This was a real job, with a
weekly schedule and lunch
breaks, and where I paid
taxes.
I was 15 but fibbed about
my age. Or rather just danced
around the whole age ques
tion. I started working at
Cato, taking credit card appli
cations at the door.
I think I made $10 for
every application that was
filled out, but more impor
tantly, I got a discount on
clothes. No, it wasn’t The
Limited but it was clothing.
By the middle of the sum
mer, I was working over 30
hours a week.
I loved it.
But, I never brought a full
paycheck home.
I spent it. All of it. If it
wasn’t on clothes, I was
going to the Revco next door
and getting drugstore makeup
and hair products.
“Even though I am work
ing, I still get an allowance,
right?” I asked her one week.
“And as your child and your
main tax deduction, I think
you should still be responsi
ble for some of my clothing
and upkeep.”
Mama laughed. She had
probably expected me to bum
through my paycheck in rapid
speed.
Mama had mistakenly
thought having a boy would
be cheaper than a girl. Boys
typically don’t worry about
fashion like girls do or care
about name brands or getting
their hair and nails done.
Mama was right on those
things, but she failed to real
ize that boys tend to want big
ger ticket items. Video games,
cars, and electronics. Things
that needed upgrades and
enhancements.
Things I have no idea about
and that run in the price range
of car payments.
“I know the things I want
cost a lot of money,” Cole
explained. “I know you try
your best to get me these
things for my birthday and
Christmas but sometimes, I
don’t want to wait to get
them. And, even if I do wait,
some of the things are a bit
more than what I would feel
comfortable with you spend
ing.”
He rattled off a list of
things: a gaming computer,
new consoles, video capture
cards. And a corgi. He’s still
wanting a corgi and knows
those little herders are pretty
expensive, not including the
vet bills.
“Where are you thinking
about getting a job?” I asked.
He took a deep breath and
told me the places he was
considering. “I want some
thing that will pay me decent
and be a good place to work.
There may be scholarship
opportunities for me, too.”
He had clearly thought this
through.
“So, what do you think?”
he asked.
What did I think?
I was proud of him.
Immensely full of weepy
mom-pride.
“I think any place will be
lucky to hire you,” I said
truthfully. I know he will be a
great employee wherever he
works and bring a great atti
tude and work ethic to any
thing he did.
He smiled humbly. “Can
you believe I am almost old
enough to start working?” he
asked excitedly.
No, I can’t. I really can’t.
I was proud of his initiative
but really wish time would
slow down.
Then I had to think of an
added perk Mama had when I
started working and smiled.
“Maybe when you start work
ing, you can buy your dear
old mom dinner,” I said.
He beamed. “Absolutely!
One thing though.”
“What?”
“Will you let me borrow
the car?”
Oh, geesh.
Sudie Crouch is an award
winning humor columnist and
author of the recently e-pub-
lished novel, "The Dahlman
Files: A Tony Dahlman
Paranormal Mystery."
Claude, Whitetail
friends not taking
bait on hunting
To those of you new to these pages, you
likely are not familiar with Claude the
Whitetail Deer and his colleagues on Jekyll
Island.
Several years ago, I received a call from
a much-distressed Claude after members of
the Jekyll Island Authority had decided
there were too many of them on the island
(whitetails, not members of the Jekyll
Island Authority) and were planning on
“culling” the
herd - which is
a politically cor
rect way of say
ing they were
going to bump
off the deer.
Claude said
Jekyll Island
whitetails had
had enough and were threatening to fight
back. Not good. The last thing our state’s
tourism industry needs is an all-out war
between whitetail deer and members of the
Jekyll Island Authority.
Claude asked me to intervene. The first
thing I did was to inform members of the
Jekyll Island Authority that most tourists
who came to Jekyll Island were there to see
the deer and not them. Second, I reminded
them that deer are nowhere near as big a
nuisance as are lawyers and I had not heard
anybody mention culling lawyers.
At the same time, I told the deer it would
be impractical for them to climb trees and
sit on a stand, waiting for members of the
Jekyll Island Authority to come sauntering
through the woods. Plus, there was the
issue of snagging their antlers in tree limbs.
The noise would spook members of the
Jekyll Island Authority and they would ran
away.
Fortunately, my intervention seems to
have worked. The Jekyll Island Authority
decided to “study” the problem, which
means to put it on the backburner until they
think no one is paying attention and then
try again. The deer saw right through that
ruse and went back to eating all the rhodo
dendrons they could find.
Things seemed well with Claude and
friends until they heard recently that Gov.
Nathan Deal has issued an executive order
that would allow deer hunters to bait fields
in certain parts of the state. That means
hunters could put feed out and wait for an
unsuspecting deer to show up for a free
meal and then — well — shoot them dead.
Claude was livid. He said it is bad
enough that somebody is always trying to
kill them and now they can’t even eat in
peace. He had read where the practice
would likely mean large profits for land-
owners who ran hunting plantations and as
well as those who sell feed. Just like you
humans, he snapped, trying to make a buck
off a buck. Claude can flat turn a phrase
when he gets mad.
Claude wanted to know why Gov. Deal
was involved. He said he had never per
ceived the governor to be a big hunter, but
assumed I knew him better than did the
whitetails on Jekyll Island. I said I was at a
loss to explain his thinking on this issue.
The only thing I had ever known the gover
nor to kill was the work of his Education
Reform Commission of which I was a
member. We evidently didn’t come up with
the answers he wanted.
Oh, cry me a river, Claude said. When he
killed the commission’s work, did the gov
ernor lay quarter-pounders on the floor and
wait for commission members to start
munching first? No, I said. He just took our
report and left like he had a bus to catch.
We had to buy our own quarter-pounders.
Claude said he and his colleagues are
convinced that Republicans are behind the
baited-field scheme. Anybody that supports
taking guns to church isn’t going to get
upset with ambushing a few deer.
They know Democrats are for gun con
trol, but most deer don’t like Democrats
because they are the party of big govern
ment. Claude says we already have more
government than we need.
Claude and his friends are feeling belea
guered right now. Trying to be helpful, I
told them I knew of one place where they
would be safe from people trying to shoot
them all the time. That was the Gold Dome.
It seems that nobody can take a gun into the
state Capitol. Claude asked if that meant
they would have to hang around a bunch of
politicians and lizard-loafered lobbyists all
day. I said that was correct.
Claude said he and the whitetails appreci
ated my suggestion but they would rather
take their chances with baited fields and
over-eager members of the Jekyll Island
Authority. There are some things even a
beleaguered deer won’t do.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough atdick@dickyar-
brough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, GA
31139; online atdickyarbrough.com or on
Facebook at wvwv.facebook.com/dickyarb.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
A nation of diversity
This year’s winner of the Dawson
County Democratic Party J.P. Livaditis
Memorial Scholarship wrote about the
diversity in America in her essay. We are
a country of immigrants. This fact has
brought us people from all over the
world in search of a better life. Native
American Indians were the only people
here before immigration to America
started. Most likely everyone reading
this article is descended from immi
grants, unless you are a pure blood
American Indian. Because of immigra
tion, America is a country of different
cultures, races, ethnicities and religions.
We are also different because of different
ideas including politics, sexual orienta
tion, likes and dislikes.
But as our essay winner stated, some
times in America we struggle to accept
these differences. Acceptance, love and
tolerance sometimes seem to escape us.
When it comes to immigration, it
might do all of us well to look into our
own ancestry. We have done that in our
family and it is amazing what we have
learned. A group of English immigrants
came to America in 1633 and established
a colony in Windsor, Conn. On that ship
were my relatives from my mothers’
side, the Wolcott’s, whose descendants
went on to sign the Declaration of
Independence and become governors of
several states. These people were escap
ing religious persecution from England.
Others, the Kicnc's. came from France
and Germany in the 1700s. The Irish
side came in 1840 to escape the potato
famine in Ireland, which caused the loss
of 25 percent of their population. Both
these groups fought in the Civil War.
One of our biggest migrations was the
slaves brought here from Africa during
our country’s early years on into the
1800s. Of course they were not seeking a
better life, but were ripped from their
homes in Africa to serve the white peo
ple who bought them. That was the
beginning of the change in the face of
immigration. Before slaves, most immi
grants were white.
And the changes continue. Now we
have immigrants from Asia, Mexico,
Africa and Central America. These are
people with different cultures, religions
and ethnicities, but there is one other dif
ference—the color of their skin. Is this
what is causing the extreme backlash we
have having against immigrants—the
color of their skin? Is this why we have
the rise of “White Supremacy” groups?
Unfortunately, the person who is cur
rently serving as the leader of the coun
try has said he doesn’t want to take in
immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and
African countries. In other words, white
people only. It is up to us as Americans
to think about our diversity, to fight back
against this hatred, and perhaps learn to
think about diversity as what makes
America great. We will be a better stron
ger nation if we do.
Bette Holland
Dawsonville
DICKYARBROUGH
Columnist
