Right place

A father said to his daughter “You graduated with honors, here is a car I acquired many years ago. It is several years old. But before I give it to you, take it to the used car lot downtown and tell them I want to sell it and see how much they offer you. The daughter went to the used car lot, returned to her father and said, “They offered me $1,000 because it looks very worn out.” The father said,”Take him to the pawn shop.” The daughter went to the pawn shop, returned to her father and said,”The pawn shop offered $100 because it was a very old car.” The father asked his daughter to go to a car club and show them the car. The daughter took the car to the club, returned and told her father,” Some people in the club offered $100,000 for it since it’s a Nissan Skyline R34, an iconic car and sought out after by many.”

The father said to his daughter,”The right place values you the right way,” If you are not valued, do not be angry, it means you are in the wrong place. Those who know your value are those who appreciate you. Never stay in a place where no one sees your value.

I explained the “financial” reasons my CPA gave me for moving away from several of my closest friends and their answers astounded me. One said,”Well, that’s practical advice”. This follows the usual, “whatever you do will be the right thing to do” style of reasoning and fatalistic “whatever will be will be” thinking. Another said, “What else can you do? I wondered how you were doing this- just think how far ahead you would have been if you hadn’t been paying for this place, too” I asked, ” Is there any room for the three of us (me and two dogs) in your home and life? No- just No.” And, nobody said, “let’s think about this together and see if there is another way for you to stay here and make good financial decisions at the same time”.

I saw this dog riding in the front seat beside an old guy with a truck full of trash. He looked content and like he belonged there.

Within 24 hours, I saw the story about the old car and “The right place values you the right way”. Never stay in a place where no one sees your value. There’s an old song that comes to mind, “Right Place, Wrong Time”by Dr John, 1973.

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