There are times that you look back and wonder why you did certain things. This is one of those things that make me think that my common sense had left me, had somehow gone off the rails, so to speak. At this time, I was attending Wichita State. I was no longer living at home. The other thing that is noteworthy about this particular time was that large stereo’s were “The Thing”. Everyone, well at least I thought everyone wanted one of these gigantic things. Basically, it was a huge wooden cabinet that you opened on the top and inside there was a radio and stereo, usually a turn table and some really nice speakers. At that time these were also pretty expensive relative to other things. You could buy components but those could set you back even more. For some unknown reason I thought it would be a good idea to buy my parents one of these large stereo’s. I go to the local appliance/stereo store and find this beautiful stereo and put down a down payment and actually buy the thing. As was the norm I received a payment book for the unit. I was home the day that it was delivered. In my mind this was a great day. It was clearly a surprise for them and they seemed to think it was great. I think they covered up the shock well. I was giving it to them as a gift. They were kind of speechless. I thought that I had really nailed it.
Here is the problem. I hadn’t really thought this thing through. My parents were not that into music. Jazz was a four-letter word. They didn’t even have many records. They did listen to the radio, but frankly this stereo was the biggest thing in their living room except the couch. Stereo-schmerio it was just a big wooden thing in their overcrowded living room. They did make room for it and it looked pretty good but I know they were just trying not to hurt my feelings by saying they liked it. This turned out to be a gift that kept on giving. I think there were either 24 or 36 payments in that payment book. I think I made about 4 of those before I turned the book over to them. So, my gift was to saddle them with a stereo that they really didn’t want and a payment book for them to use to make payments or screw up my credit. What a guy. I cannot believe that I did that to them. I am sure the payments were under $20 a month, not life altering, and I had made a down payment and several payments myself so that was something…right? All I can say is that I am glad that none of my children thought to do something similar for me and Kathy. My caring and loving gift added to their monthly payments and financial commitments. They were probably glad when I left town to go into the military. At least then it would be more difficult for me to shower them with any more… GIFTS!!!
