A friend is a busy man, a lawyer, a helper, martial artist and all around good guy. He's lived in Montana all his life. Son of Ranchers and Salt of Earth. Moves to a nice little town, scenic with green, knowing his son will get a good education in the modest community.
Well now, it's Spring and the Lawn needs mowing. "Tune 'er up." He tells the local Lawn shop. They do. Boy, do they do the do. Filter, new spark plug, change of oil, resharpen blade, and 75 DOLLARS LABOR. 112 bucks please, smiling.
Do Porsche mechanics make that much a half hour?
There's a price for those born into the Town, and there's a price for everyone else. Now, not all play this game- just enough to make you wring your hands and want to mow down the daisies.
There's three or four nice towns on the Hi Line near me. (US Route 2) Most of them charge a fair price, to try and stay competitive. One of them is insane. Septic system guy charges twice what the next town does. Carpet guy wants an extra 2 bucks per sq foot. And so it goes. These are the same people with a mantra, 'buy local' they cry, and the snobs take it up with a vengence, cutting the heart out of anyone 'not from here' or breaking the fold. When they need a new truck though, they'll drive to Billings to get it. Just you don't. In the swell town my pal now lives someone bought a bunch of flooring in Billings because the locals wanted too damn much. You might ask, 'Well, doesn't it cost more to ship?" In most cases, no. But when it does, fine- let's pay shipping. No deal. They want the jack. The homeowners could not find a carpenter to work on their house after that. Not from that swell town. The word was out.
When Bob Dylan wrote Maggies Farm he warn't lying. (No, I didn't mispell that by mistake.) The only thing saving this whole State from dropping straight to Hell via the black weight from their ignorant greedy spiteful hearts are the immensely couragious and heartfelt people who are also very plentiful. Sort of a balancing act here in Montana. Montana's so few in population, if just one guy of the wrong kind stepped over the State Line the whole place would tilt.
There are guys and gals who'd stop to change a flat tire for you, drive you to the nearest phone, charge a fair price and mean what they say. They're here. But this great land that breeds courage and love, also breeds a hardship mentality, a deprivation outlook where people become a means to get one over on someonelse.
They must have had that lawnmower on a heart monitor to charge that much.
Almost forgot to tell you; we're going to Billings to get the new flooring.
munk
Well now, it's Spring and the Lawn needs mowing. "Tune 'er up." He tells the local Lawn shop. They do. Boy, do they do the do. Filter, new spark plug, change of oil, resharpen blade, and 75 DOLLARS LABOR. 112 bucks please, smiling.
Do Porsche mechanics make that much a half hour?
There's a price for those born into the Town, and there's a price for everyone else. Now, not all play this game- just enough to make you wring your hands and want to mow down the daisies.
There's three or four nice towns on the Hi Line near me. (US Route 2) Most of them charge a fair price, to try and stay competitive. One of them is insane. Septic system guy charges twice what the next town does. Carpet guy wants an extra 2 bucks per sq foot. And so it goes. These are the same people with a mantra, 'buy local' they cry, and the snobs take it up with a vengence, cutting the heart out of anyone 'not from here' or breaking the fold. When they need a new truck though, they'll drive to Billings to get it. Just you don't. In the swell town my pal now lives someone bought a bunch of flooring in Billings because the locals wanted too damn much. You might ask, 'Well, doesn't it cost more to ship?" In most cases, no. But when it does, fine- let's pay shipping. No deal. They want the jack. The homeowners could not find a carpenter to work on their house after that. Not from that swell town. The word was out.
When Bob Dylan wrote Maggies Farm he warn't lying. (No, I didn't mispell that by mistake.) The only thing saving this whole State from dropping straight to Hell via the black weight from their ignorant greedy spiteful hearts are the immensely couragious and heartfelt people who are also very plentiful. Sort of a balancing act here in Montana. Montana's so few in population, if just one guy of the wrong kind stepped over the State Line the whole place would tilt.
There are guys and gals who'd stop to change a flat tire for you, drive you to the nearest phone, charge a fair price and mean what they say. They're here. But this great land that breeds courage and love, also breeds a hardship mentality, a deprivation outlook where people become a means to get one over on someonelse.
They must have had that lawnmower on a heart monitor to charge that much.
Almost forgot to tell you; we're going to Billings to get the new flooring.
munk
