<p>wanted to pass this along:</p>
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<p>thanks audiophile for the smile, that was a nice read.</p>
<p>Love it. Where did this come from??</p>
<p>One of those things that came in my e-mail. You’ll probably see it ten more times before the week is out ;)</p>
<p>It’s nice but am I the only woman who read this sentence and laughed? </p>
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<p>Gee, I wonder who takes care of the kids when they get up early and while he’s out having a few drinks and playing the guitar in the evening? I’m so very thankful to live in a time and a place where it’s not enough for father’s to “play with their children” inbetween sleeping late, napping, drinking and dancing.</p>
<p>But… how will the fisherman pay for his kids to go to an ivy? ;)</p>
<p>Sometimes, I wonder if a simple life is even possible here in the US. Case in point, when I think about things like gardening or reading a book, I automatically ask myself if I really have the time. Can I squeeze it in somehow?</p>
<p>I thought the moral of this particular story was going to be that Puerto Ricans do not pay any federal income tax! LOL</p>
<p>Unfortunately for Capitalism to work, everyone has to want more than they have now. If we all were satisfied with life and existence then corporate America could not continue to show growth and the stock market would not go up and real estate would not go up. We have all been conditioned to never be satisfied with what we have. I think this latest downturn in housing and the stock market have people finally realizing that maybe they do not need so much. Maybe all that hard work was a waste of time and maybe we would all be better off by sleeping in, playing the guitar, and having a few drinks with friends in the evening. Unfortunately, our memories are short and within five years we will all be back at the rat race trying to get that speed boat, vacation home, and big screen tv that we really do not need.</p>
<p>Danny Kaye already covered this parable in the 1950s, in the last verse of the song “Civilization” (aka Bongo, Bongo, Bongo, I don’t want to leave the Congo):</p>
<p>“They hurry like savages to get aboard an iron train
And though it’s smokey and it’s crowded, they’re too civilized to complain
When they’ve got two weeks vacation, they hurry to vacation ground (What do they do, Danny?)
They swim and they fish, but that’s what I do all year round”</p>
<p>Redondo Dave, I’m hopeful that those of us who have lived through these times will be satisfied with less, and that it will be the new up-and-comers who jump aboard that rat race. (Mixed metaphors, but you know what I mean.)</p>
<p>The point I got from this was that the islander was so good at his work, fishing, that he could provide for his family while expending relatively little time and effort.</p>
<p>I know an auto mechanic like that; he has his own shop, does excellent work, turns away business, and provides well for his family with a 30 hour work week (less the first week of deer and trout season). His kids go to state colleges.</p>
<p>Europeans get by well on 35 hours a week. Of course they have “socialized” medicine.</p>
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<p>The only thing standing between me and a lot more time for that is the price of medical insurance.</p>
<p>But even now–those are my priorities. H and I keep downsizing our life to have more time for the important stuff.</p>
<p>This same story has been printed in the past with people from other places such as Greek fishermen.</p>
<p>Geez, I see people like this everyday. They receive Medicaid (which taxpayers pay for), their children receive Medicaid(ditto), food stamps, crisis intervention funds (perhaps not in PR), etc. etc. Here they sit on their porch or watch their large screen tvs inside, instead of by the beach. They have amazingly stress free lives.</p>
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<p>Right. And the fox didn’t bother going for those grapes because he was probably on food stamps :rolleyes:</p>