I've been doing some thinking lately, and doing the math. One theory, that my older sister has, is that a friend of my father's, a John Bethune, somehow "took all his money". I don't know how that could have possibly happen and never heard even the slightest allusion to it from Dad.
No, what ruined the family finances and threw the four youngest of us into deep poverty was my father's insistence on sending my older sister to Punahou School, the tuition to which cost about the same as if he's bought a couple of Datsun 240Z's a year.
As it was, he did buy one Datsun 240Z, and man we had fun with that car. We'd jam 5 of us in there, and my father counted quite a few dips in Pupukea Homestead Road, the dippiest being "Dip Number 9" which we were sure to hit just right.
That damn Punahou tuition cost at least as much as the house mortgage and probably more, and Dad got his wish. My older sis, who I ought to refer to as Hyacinth (anyone who's watched the British TV show "Keeping Up Appearances" will get the reference) went on to marry someone else who went to Punahou, and settled in to be a fat hausfrau who feeds feral cats. She was given absolutely everything, had a governess when she was little, went to the national spelling bee finals expenses be damned, and out of this, society has benefited by there being one more fat hausfrau who feeds feral cats. She was going to be a Great Writer and hasn't written a damned thing.
Eric Blair ("George Orwell") knew he was going to be a writer also, the difference is, he actually wrote.
I have no quarrel with Punahou School, as I'm convinced far more nice people come out of it than examples like Hyacinth. The carnival was always great fun, and I had tons of fun with the microscope I got at the "White Elephant" sale one year.
What a stupid way to do things, though. We lost a very nice house on Portlock Road, where we knew tons of neighbors and were in the one good public school district on Oahu. We could have had one hell of a garden in the very large backyard, too, and I wish I'd known how to set one up, but I was just a kid.
And example of how to do things right is, when I lived in Colorado, I rented a room from a Mrs. Sorensen, a widow whose husband had been an officer in the Air Force, and who had been a nurse. When I was sick I even passed the time by reading her old pre-antibiotics textbooks. Grim! But anyway she rented out rooms, and downstairs had one large room with a bunch of beds, so her sons could always come by and stay. They were all engineers or something. She and her husband had made sure they got good starts in life and even as adults they'd never be turned away.
Ken's family, Polish Catholics, are the same way. None of 'em would leave any other of 'em in the lurch. So white people *can* do things right.
I rant about this because I grew up in a Universe where most places would not hire me because of being white. And there's no rescue over the horizon, you're on your own. The best thing is to have some skill you can take anywhere. I was scared to try waiting tables because I was afraid I'd spill someone's food or screw up somehow, didn't have the money for barber college, and thought high tech was the way to go.
High tech being the way to go has been partially true. Knowing how to buy and sell things is a very good skill, and knowing high tech things is good because there are tons of people out there who know antiques or books but few who know about high tech gadgets.
I might have become a sign painter, and have done a few signs that are out there in the world. But, it requires having a lot of STUFF and a space to work in. Music, using an instrument that doesn't require amplification, so, one that predates electronics, is the way to go. Back in Hawaii you can hustle handicrafts in Waikiki but only if you're not white. Or Korean because the ruling group, Japanese, do *not* like Koreans. Music is OK though, for some reason. Nothing physical changes hands. And I guess a white person playing music has a certain novelty factor.
Speaking of which, I got going earlier and didn't get to the Sunnyvale Whole Foods before 6, but I did start playing at 6:30. Again there were no problems playing in the underground parking structure, which I did again as the sidewalk was out in the wind and it was very windy.
Again the Whole Foods employees buzzing around didn't seem to mind my music, I got compliments and smiles from the public, and besides getting the Whole Foods gift card which was in its own little tiny paper bag which is a cute gimmick they do, I had a couple of other interesting interactions.
One was a very fat guy, who kind of hovered around, then told me the piece I'd been playing before the last couple reminded me of his dad. I said it was "El Solo Toro" by Herb Alpert and that my father liked him too. My father, I went on, had every Herb Alpert album that came out, and Alpert was the A in A&M Records, and had retired pretty much when A&M Records got into financial trouble so he came out of retirement and released a new piece, "Rise", that did so well it rescued A&M Records, and my dad bought that album too.
The other was a couple of high school age kids, real sit-a-the-back-of-the-classroom types, who came up and asked me if I knew any "Stockton Rap". I said I know Stockton, and I know rap, but I don't know what Stockton Rap is, sorry. "Just play something" they said, by which they meant play something cool, if I could manage to. I played "Funkytown" which I'd not practiced but it came out pretty well and they were happy. That's a good, fun, song to be able to play so I need to work on it more.
I played until 8:00 so it was an hour and a half, and felt a bit slow compared to yesterday but I made $31 and a $50 Whole Foods gift card so, $81. My only spending was bus fare, a bit under $5 for two Whole Foods brand beef sticks, and a bit under $4 for a yogurt drink from Baraka Market on the way to the bus stop.
When I got back to "my" Whole Foods I picked out a bunch of things that I buy anyway or was planning to buy, and spent up the gift card plus had to put in a dollar and change of my own, in other words it worked out perfectly.
I rode home the shorter way along Hedding, because the street was all blocked off by the police going the other way, and when I got back I had a look at Reddit and yep, a couple of people had been shot around San Pedro Square. I'm surprised it took this long for the bullets to start flying. It's not an event in the US if no one gets shot.
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