theamberroad's Guestbook

Date: 2nd March 2010


Thank you for your thought, and I mean that sincerely. I think you have helped me answer the riddle. ------- He did say business. Could have been the travel business, which in those days was lucrative. ------- But the degree of the malcontent was huge. If we match that degree, which was all-encompassing and all-filling, driving out any other malcontent, against the size of what he did not do because his grandfather would not let him, then that too must be huge. ------- Land was reliable, the stock market was not, at least with its reputation in the late 30s and early 40s. If we look for a match of the extent of the grandfather's vehemence against what could have deserved that vehemence, I find an investment in the stock market that ended up being phenomenally successful. ------- This poses the question, what was cheap then that a young man with a half a barn full of money could have bought that would have put an investment in land of a Florida beach hotel to shame? What could possibly have made that look like a confoundingly poor decision? ------- Knowing what I know about the man and another man who lived nearby, for me there is only one answer: the purchase of Standard Oil stock. ------- I do not know about you, but missing that opportunity could very well drive me past the bottle directly to the barrel. You know how people drink to forget? I am not too sure if you can drink enough to forget that. ------- I will give one of those class-room gold stars to the person out there in travel land who can guess what town the then young man lived in, and the name of the man who lived nearby who might have inspired him to invest in that company. ------- A clue: you could say the man who lived nearby served as what might be called the quintessential example in that regards. Quintessential. So much so as to make Donald Trump look like he sits in the chauffeur’s seat, not the driver’s seat. ------- For those of you who know a little about the history of Florida resort towns should be able to get this. -------

From Blog: "I Hated My Grandfather Ever Since"