I could say that this is a way to save money or that boys will be boys or you can just call it stealing. Anyway, Hugh Allen Jones (commonly known as Heard or Herd or one of the Grainola 5 sometimes 6) use to chase the apple truck that stopped by the school each year and grab an apple or two. I was too slow to ever catch anything much less the apple truck so don't think I was a good boy because I wanted to chase that truck or more importantly steal me an apple. Honestly I don't know that the apple man ever knew what was happening or just ignored it but it sure got my adrenalin going as Hugh would generally share his take with us.
Now I would call this the good old days because if you got caught, most likely you would just get a whoopin (that is country code for spanking) and probably have to pay for the apple. As I remember it was 5 cents for the apple if you bought one. The good thing about Hugh Allen is he always had the guts to challenge the standard. Basically I was a chicken about those kind of things.
Now I know I told about the time I stole one of those pressure valves to air up a basketball from the local Otasco store. I sure did feel guilty about that. Joe Curnutt owned the store and he raised two kids who turned out pretty good, Buddy and Shirley. Knowing Joe, he probably would have given it to me as I did not have the money and I think it was a dime.
What this reminds me of is over the years I have not stolen anything I remember but I sure know I have some regrets. I don't regret my failures as much as I do regret some of those stupid things I have said. If you don't know it, when you say something you cannot ever take it back. I remember one time I made a comment about an SUV to someone who had just bought one. I told them I would never buy one and that they (the suv) were very ugly. I have since lost count but I have purchased several. My worst "stuck my foot in my mouth" event came (and still comes out on occasion) was when I said something bad about a person. Man, I wish I could take those words back.
Well, I guess I should wrap this up. So what do you learn in the Osage?
- that sticks and stones poem is one of the biggest lies ever told
- no matter what you think, we need to keep a filter on our mouths
- don't say something you will regret
- If you are going to steel an apple, don't get one with a worm in it
