delivering brushes for door-to-door brush company salesmen. He was able to net about $1500 a week on this, working three or four nights for three or four hours.
Over a period of several years he managed to accumulate quite a bit of property most of which he was still paying for in installments, admittedly, but still he had the use of it. A nice car, a good TV set, a fairly adequate wardrobe, comfortable furniture in his apartment, air conditioning. Of course, he didn't have much time to enjoy most of them what with his two jobs and what with going out with his girl Millie two or three times a week.
One day Jim saw an ad in a national publication suggesting that it was possible to retire while still young, and since the information was free, Jim laughed and gambled a stamp. The information that followed was interesting enough so that he sent for the book and finally even got around to reading it.
In fact, he read it and reread it, over a period of several years. It was one of his greatest methods of relaxation when he became particularly tired, or disgusted, with life. He could always sit down and read about how it was possible to get off the treadmill and start living. Read examples of how others had done it. He sure got a lot of vicarious enjoyment out of reading that book.
Every time he read it he told himself, all over again, "Shucks, I could do that. It'd be a cinch. I'm young. Got a few bucks in the bank. Don't even have the responsibilities that many of these people who've retired had. Shucks, I could do it."
But he never did. Inertia had him. He just couldn't get around to taking the necessary steps. Just couldn't get up and do it. But he continued to read and to tell himself, "Shucks. . . ."
One day a friend called at the apartment, saw the book and wanted to read it so Jim told him to take it along but to be sure and return it because he was thinking of doing what the book said and he wanted to read it some more. So the friend took it along and after reading it, loaned it to another friend. And Jim never saw it again.
Period.
§