And so Tommy Locklear achieves what so many strive for, to be remembered, to have mattered. The ultimate compliment when ones dies "They were a good person, they will be missed"
On Tue, May 30, 2017 at 10:11 AM Christopher Havel <laserhaw...@gmail.com> wrote: > Pardon me for saying, but the thought that I don't have enough common sense > in my own dang head to know right from wrong, I find that a little > offensive. > > I learned honesty from a man named Tommy Locklear. You've never heard of > him, but he was a wonderful and kind person, while he was around. You might > be a little skeptical of my claim when you learn that Tommy was a local > mechanic for most of his life -- mechanics not having much of a reputation > for honesty in most places, or so I hear -- but I'll offer up a story as > evidence that this fellow was perhaps the exception to prove the rule. > > When my grandmother passed, she left behind, amongst many other things, her > 1991 Ford Escort LX. Silver on the outside and light grey with dark grey > and black accents, it was basically the color of a silent film. Not having > much alternative, it quickly became Mom's car, for many, many years (she > eventually bought a gently used '98 Saturn in the early 2000s, which > replaced the Escort.) This was the sort of car where the speedometer pegged > at 85, but you never actually wanted to go that fast in it. At 65mph, the > car vibrated concerningly. At 75, one tended to be of the persuasion that > the doors were about to fall off. We never did peg the speedometer, so I > can't tell you what that was like. Mom wasn't much of one for lead-foot > anyways... although there were times when that car went a little faster > than it perhaps should have, so that we'd get someplace on time after > leaving home late. > > At some point in our lives, we moved from a little podunk town in North > Carolina, to Chapel Hill (of UNC basketball fame) so that Mom could get > some graduate school experience. It was during this time that our little > Escort sedan sprung a rather nasty oil leak. Mom took it to some nearby > garage and they read her like a book. Knowing she knew absolutely nothing > about cars except how to drive them, they told her it would be thousands of > dollars for a new head gasket. She decided -- luckily -- to get a second > opinion from Tommy. Well... Tommy came and got the car and brought it back > to our little podunk town (out of which he operated) and took it into the > shop. We were along for the ride. He popped the hood, poked around a > little, and put the car up on the lift before poking around a little more. > Then he called Mom over. He pointed to a little plug in the bottom of the > crankcase, and explained that the plug, which (although I'll never know for > sure, I was too young at the time) was probably for draining the oil out of > the sump, had a broken seal. He replaced the plug and its seal for the > princely sum of fifteen dollars, and that was the end of the leak. > > Tommy's whole life was filled with stories like that. He was an excellent > mechanic for decades. He eventually had to stop working on cars, though, > when his diabetes caught up with him enough to have his left leg amputated > at the knees -- see, despite running a thriving business and being perhaps > the most honest mechanic in town (and the town knew it!) he never could > quite afford to keep the medication going that would have kept his diabetes > in check... he eventually died, a few years ago, of a heart attack. I will > note that the man that took over Tommy's garage after the amputation, > pretty well ran it into the ground because he was not nearly as wholesome a > man as Tommy was. Kind of a shame. > > I guess the point here is, if we have good role models around us, we can > learn from our fellow humans what we need to know. As for me, I'd rather > live in the here and now than dwell on what might happen --but can't be > known for sure-- in the hereafter. Besides... isn't there something a > little bit sinister, in a "Hotel California" sort of a way, about > essentially living in a dream where you can have anything you want as long > as it's not waking up...? ;) > _______________________________________________ > arm-netbook mailing list arm-netbook@lists.phcomp.co.uk > http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/arm-netbook > Send large attachments to arm-netb...@files.phcomp.co.uk _______________________________________________ arm-netbook mailing list arm-netbook@lists.phcomp.co.uk http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/arm-netbook Send large attachments to arm-netb...@files.phcomp.co.uk