Dick’s Hideaway:

A millionaire run amok...

Dick MacKenzie - www.dickshideaway.com

Sunset at camp. A reflection on a pleasant evening, awaiting winter.
When I was 19, about 1964, I embarked on a dream to be a millionaire by the time I was 30.
I worked at a big city bank. Salary, $3000 a year ($250 a month). I started as a messenger, which I called a courier, sounded spiffier, hand carrying attache cases of documents and cancelled cheques from one branch to another.
Early on I bought five shares of Zale corporation, a department store, of sorts. Total purchase was probably about $100. I was almost in heaven. Kept the certificate in a tin cookie box.
I remember one day wandering around a Zale store, basking in the wonderment, mentioning to a clerk or two, that I was one of the owners of the store.
Only much later did I realize, or admit, that my ownership was minuscule. My equity probably totalled about one screw in an electrical plate on a side wall.
Our political functions are similar, in some ways. We are all an important part of the process, but we share our country (and our world) with many others. Our best contributions are to understand our place in the scheme of things and to add some value to our shared vision.
P.S. I was closer to being a millionaire in 1964, with five shares of Zale, than I am now. But my happiness is so much greater.