Take This Tune

Posted: Monday, January 31, 2011 by Travis Cody in
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My pal Jamie from Duward Discussion has reintroduced her wonderful weekly feature.  Take This Tune provides a musical prompt each week, usually a video with the song lyrics.  The task is to write something inspired by the song or something in the lyrics.

This week's prompt is actually your choice of two songs from the movie The Big Chill.  Jamie says...
One of my favorite movies and soundtracks is "The Big Chill" with its window on a generation. It featured 14 great songs that acted both as music for the film and commentary on the interaction of the characters. This week you get your choice of two songs to use for your Take This Tune prompt.

The Big Chill is one of my favorite movies too.  The song choices are Ain't Too Proud to Beg from The Temptations and You Can't Always Get What You Want from The Rolling Stones.

I chose The Stones.

You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes
You just might find
You get what you need

My blog pal Lois wrote yesterday that she and her husband found a full service car wash.  They stopped in and got the works.  She wrote, "Those four sets of hands represent four families that have jobs.  So we'll be patronizing this place often."


Now, Lois and her husband have recently relocated to Ohio.  Ohio is getting snow these days, so you wouldn't think getting the car washed would qualify as a need.  Oh you could make the case, as Lois did, that the winter salt on the roads makes it necessary to periodically get a vehicle washed.  That stuff can cause corrosion which can lead to rust, which can lead to an early trade in for a new car.

Need versus Want.

One needs to be aware of what winter salt can do to a vehicle's undercarriage and exterior paint.  Then one can pay the relatively low cost of a full service car wash periodically to avoid needing to pay thousands later for repairs, or a replacement.  It's like getting the oil changed or having your transmission checked.  It's basic preventive care to secure your investment. 


The side benefit is that one's patronage helps another family by providing a job, so that family can meet its own needs.


I can extend that analogy to just about anything.  But my main point is this...what do you do if you have money left after you pay the mortgage/rent, buy groceries, and pay your subsistence bills?  You save some, if you're smart, and you give some to charities.  And you spend the rest on entertainment.


That's what keeps the economy chugging along.  Sometimes it rolls downhill like an out of control rock.  Other times it slows to a trickle like a dried up stream bed.

"Money, pardon the expression, is like manure.  It's not worth a thing unless it's spread around, encouraging young things to grow."  Dolly Levi, from the movie Hello Dolly

In December 2010, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics said that the national unemployment rate was 9.1%.  That's so high, and I feel for all those who are still having trouble finding jobs.  They face so many challenges.  I've been there and it sucks.


But I always try to find the positive.  So 90.9% of the working age population is employed.  Most of us are working in this country.  For some it's still a struggle just to make the monthly nut, but they are finding ways to get it done.


And some of us are making the monthly nut and then some.  So we're saving as much as we can against the possibility that the economy might hiccup again.  We want to be prepared and we want to be cautious.  But we can also help the economy by giving in to what we want once in awhile.


I guess my point is, don't let fear stop you from doing what you want.  If you're struggling, of course you'll fall back as far as you can to meet your basic needs of food, water, clothing, and shelter.  


But if you are reasonably secure, then spend responsibly.  The responsible spending of those who can do so saves jobs, and can sometimes create jobs.


Maybe you can't always get what you want.  But when you can, you might find someone else gets what they need.

7 comments:

  1. Akelamalu says:
    31 January, 2011 08:57

    This is a great post Trav with excellent advice re spending and saving. :)

  1. Vinny "Bond" Marini says:
    31 January, 2011 10:00

    Terrific post today Travis...taking that simple song and turning it into a life lesson...WELL DONE

  1. Durward Discussion says:
    31 January, 2011 10:35

    Wonderful post and we both sort of got to the same place by a different route: Choices and opportunities. Don't worry about your own chances ... give them to someone else.

    A big invite to others to join in any time this week.

  1. Travis Cody says:
    31 January, 2011 19:40

    Akelamalu: I think it's important to prepare for the future, and to have a safety net if something goes wrong. But it's also important to live your life as you go too.

    V: Thank you Sir. It's always been one of my favorite songs.

    Jamie: I think it's another piece of my philosophy of taking charge and actively making choices.

  1. Coco says:
    01 February, 2011 05:41

    Excellent post, Trav.

  1. Charles Gramlich says:
    01 February, 2011 08:40

    Good thoughts. I actually haven't seen the Big chill. I should watch it at some point.

  1. Linda says:
    01 February, 2011 17:36

    Travis this was a marvelous post, it really was. Like Vinnie said, you took a simple song and turned it into a life lesson. I especially like your last sentence:

    "Maybe you can't always get what you want. But when you can, you might find someone else gets what they need."

    Perfectly put!

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