When I was a youngster, I loved building model cars. Plane and ship models held little interest for me. My best friend Tom and I held these interests in common.
We would build them and then sometimes send them down the stairs to see what the results would be.
We were often on our own and had ample opportunities to get into mischief.
Once I took my father’s Gretsch “Country Gentleman” guitar to share and tell without permission. That was a heavy load and yet I somehow managed it.
We were always in need of cash to feed our car model building habits. I can relate to the misdeeds of the junkie here.
On this particular occasion my friend’s mother made the mistake of giving her son money for his haircut.
My brother cut my hair so I had the needed implements at home to do the job at hand.
My friend had straight hair blond that was combed from one side to the other with a part running down the left side of his head. I looked it over and thought, “an easy job no doubt.”
I don’t recall where we did the deed but at the end of the day we thought that it looked pretty good. We then took the money to the store and bought our fix. I think it was a Plymouth Barracuda.
When his mother came home, we were soon in deep trouble.
I’m not sure if she saw the hair on the floor somewhere in her home or the model car now finished in his room. We both thought his hair looked fine. Perhaps we were wrong.
There is a lesson to be learned here.
I grew up with guns and free time which can be a deadly set of circumstances for a youngster and yet I never harmed anyone or myself.
Anyone younger than six should be supervised while handling guns, as far as I can tell. Perhaps I was just lucky or more mature for my age.
I went to work early in life and had an abbreviated childhood, to say the least. I guess that is one reason that I am still here and didn’t injure myself on one of my childhood adventures.
I was given adult responsibilities at an early age and learned to behave myself like an adult, just like in the photo below.
Those two guys didn’t stand a chance.
