America, Have You Counted The Cost?

  Years a go when I was a junior in college, and believe me that's further back then I care to admit, I took a course called Economics 101. The first rule I learned in this basic economics class was, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Therefore, if you do manage to acquire anything here in America, at no personal cost to you, remember this, somewhere,  somebody paid for it!
  I remember back, when I graduated from high school, a friend of mine,  was given a new car as a gift from his parents to celebrate his graduation. Six weeks later, my friend who was going way too fast, hit a tree, and  although, my friend was not seriously hurt, he did manage to completely total the new car. I asked my friend later if he felt bad for wrecking the car his parents had given him. His response left me speechless, no he said, dad will just buy me another one, however, to my friends great surprise dear old dad did not pony up another new car for him. It seems my friends dad decided to drop him from his insurance. Therefore,  my friend was forced to find a job, save his money for a year, buy a new car, and pay for his own insurance. I noticed something strange, it seems my friend had a new attitude. I noticed he didn't let just anyone,  drive his new car. I was told,  that he washed the car and  polished it by hand  often. As you might expect, his insurance premiums eventually began to go down because his driving record improved dramatically. I ask my friend sometime later what he had learned from this whole experience, he said simply this, a new car means a great deal more to you if your the one who had to pay for it. I guess you could say that's the first lesson  you learn in The  Art Of  Appreciation 101. As always, my friends, these thoughts remain, just some words to think on.