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Go Speed Racer!
Apr. 16th, 2024 10:03 amThe year was 1981 and I was close to enjoying my 12th year on this planet. I had fallen madly in love with the BMX Diamondback Silver Streak and vowed to buy it. My mom drove to me to the bike store and I used my savings to make a down payment then started paying the rest on layaway (for you younguns, that's when a store would let you make small interest free payments on an item until you paid for it). I did every job I could find, including a little under-the-table factory work where my mom worked.
School was rolling around and I contacted the store to see how close I was to owning my new bike. My heart sank when I was told I was $200 short. I immediately sat down and started outlining all the odd jobs a 12 year old could possibly line up during the school year (obviously forgoing any after school or extracurricular activities).
A few days later after school I was about to go out and start knocking on doors to offer my mowing services when my mom asked me to come look in my bedroom closet. I was confused as to why I needed to do that since I knew most everything in that closet and there certainly wasn't anything interesting in it this morning. But when I opened the doors, before me stood my dream bike.
Apparently, my devotion to the cause - even to the point of refusing assistance - prompted my mom to finish making the payments so I could actually enjoy the school year without trying to hustle money.
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I recently discovered that the suggested retail price for that bike back then was slightly more what my mom paid to get my bike out of hock. Granted, the bike I bought was fully assembled and tuned prior to my getting it but damn - I paid a LOT for that bike. That said, I could race cars on that thing (top speed was 30 mph according to the guy that decided to pace me once).
School was rolling around and I contacted the store to see how close I was to owning my new bike. My heart sank when I was told I was $200 short. I immediately sat down and started outlining all the odd jobs a 12 year old could possibly line up during the school year (obviously forgoing any after school or extracurricular activities).
A few days later after school I was about to go out and start knocking on doors to offer my mowing services when my mom asked me to come look in my bedroom closet. I was confused as to why I needed to do that since I knew most everything in that closet and there certainly wasn't anything interesting in it this morning. But when I opened the doors, before me stood my dream bike.
Apparently, my devotion to the cause - even to the point of refusing assistance - prompted my mom to finish making the payments so I could actually enjoy the school year without trying to hustle money.
--------------
I recently discovered that the suggested retail price for that bike back then was slightly more what my mom paid to get my bike out of hock. Granted, the bike I bought was fully assembled and tuned prior to my getting it but damn - I paid a LOT for that bike. That said, I could race cars on that thing (top speed was 30 mph according to the guy that decided to pace me once).
