My Motorcycle Journey— Part 10
A Library Card
Long before the internet and Google, the library was the quickest way to find out about stuff. And it was free. It became my favorite place as I learned all about the business world.
I had always liked reading. I wasn’t great at sports. I got my entertainment from books. My favorites included Tom Swift and his Motorcycle, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill. I liked the adventure and the excitement of those young men and dreamed of becoming courageous and adventurous like them.
I was a nerd way before Bill Gates made it popular. In high school, while standing in the rain with the other smokers between classes, a friend walked over, stared at my rain-soaked hair plastered to my head and said, “Hey, Spock!”
I assumed he was talking about my analytical mind and smiled, but he said, “No. It’s because your ears stick out. You look like Mr. Spock.”
And just like that, my nickname for the next three years was Spock. Even my mom, who, if my friends called and asked for Spock, would say, “Just a minute.” Then yell through the house, “Spock, telephone!”
Now, I was using that nerdy skill to learn the difference between sole proprietors and partnerships and corporations. I learned the difference between cash-flow and profit. I learned…
