Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

That Your Daddy’s Car?

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I want to share a story with you about work. About working for what you want, so that you can not only get what you want, but pay for it with cash.
My roommate in college (one of many) graduated college with no college loans. Not because he had scholarships, but because he paid for it with cash. Not only that, but he had a nice pickup and an even nicer classic car. It was a very nice drop-top convertible with a deep burgundy metal flake paint job. Every summer, he did a little bit of work on it until it was painstakingly nice.
68mustangblue_smallOne day, while we were out and about enjoying the sun with the top down, we happened to stop somewhere. It’s been a while ago, so I don’t exactly remember where. While we were there, some older guys (I’m guessing 40-50ish) came over to look at the car.
After asking the normal courtesy questions, like what kind of motor was in it and if the seats were original, one of the guys asked the wrong question.  “That your Daddy’s Car?”

My roommate isn’t exactly a shy person, but even he will admit that, at first, he was taken aback by the question. Despite our age (21ish), he had worked hard to put that car in the condition that it was in.  It was his car.  Not his daddy’s, his.  After he regained his senses, he made sure that the man who asked the question knew that it was his car. That he had done the work and he had paid for it.  The guy laughed his question off like it was a joke, although it was obvious that he hadn’t meant it jokingly.

Like most stories, this one has a moral at the end.  Or, at least, I’m giving it one.  Giving us all something to learn from it.  No matter how hard you work for something, there will always be that guy who will assume that you got it handed to you.  Nice car?  Must be your daddy’s.  Nice house?  Inheritance.  Or more loan that it’s worth.  Or you make a lot of money.  Or.  Or. Or.  The point is, they will find a way to assume that you got whatever it is by some other method than actual hard work.  And, like my roommate, you might feel that you need to set them straight.  Whether you do or not, is irrelevant.  What you need to take from this story is that when you set those goals, and you work hard to reach them, you must expect that there will be few people who will believe that you got it by working for it.  Some, you will be able to set straight.  Others will continue to think it no matter how many times you tell them.  Being disciplined and hard working requires a thicker skin.  You’ve got to be able to ignore the people who won’t believe.  They believe that anyone who has nice things got it the same way the majority of other people do.  Credit.  But you know better.  You got your things the Beating Broke Way!

Photo Credit: kkiser