Tuesday, June 7, 2016

No Deposit, No Return


Some of you may remember as a child, you couldn’t wait until your parent or an adult finished drinking a coke to grab their EMPTY bottle. Well, those bottles were like a precious commodity back in the day! I can remember some of the neighborhood kids walking up and down the streets looking for empty bottles and when they found one, you would think they’d hit the jackpot! Oh What Joy!! Lol.
Those glass bottles back then were worth pennies, if you returned them to the ‘corner store’. But if you redeemed enough of them, you could jingle, jingle your pockets, all the way home… unless you spent it all up at the store (which was usually the case).


A Little History:
Back before disposable bottles, you’d pay a deposit on the bottle when you bought a soft drink. You’d take it home and then take the empty bottle back with you the next time you went to the grocery store. They’d give you back your deposit. The grocery store would return the bottle to the bottler, where they’d clean it, wash it, refill it, cap it, and send it back out to the stores.
Coca-cola experimented with them in the ’60s, and then quit using them until they brought them back in a few areas in the ’70s. The reason why returnable bottles persisted until the 1990s is because some of the established smaller bottlers didn’t want to change their equipment, which was very costly to make the transition. So they continued using returnable bottles until about the 1990s, when they were finally forced to go to no-deposit bottles.

My point:
Life has plenty of hard knocks to go around! But after you’ve been around the block a few times, you have quite a few lessons learned and mastered. If you don’t put the blood, sweat and tears into the visions and dreams you have, you have nothing to show for it.
I’ve heard many clichés about ‘old money’ and ‘new money’. Old money usually pertains to riches or money that is inherited or passed down from generation to generation. The recipient has it made; probably was GIVEN everything and didn’t really work a day in his or her life.
New money is monies that are gained through hard work and sacrifice… from early morning rising, calloused hands, aching backs, headaches… need I go on? 

Who do you think can appreciate the value of their dollar the most? In each case, there were deposits made, so to speak, but what was the GAIN? Much the same as what you instill in a child in their tender and conforming years. “Confirming what is said and confirming what is due. That which is deposited, usually comes back to YOU”.

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