|
|
Saturday, October 11, 2008
|
|
Setting the table These days, economy at the center of Table of Knowledge' in Staples Staff Writer STAPLES - The sun hadn't shown its face yet Friday morning and the steady rainfall made it seem like it wouldn't come out at all.
It was just after 7 a.m. and, as vehicles passed by, headlights on, you were sure the drivers were off to make it to work by 8 o'clock.
But as you pulled into the parking lot at the Burger King in Staples, it was a different scenario. The fast-food restaurant was mostly vacant.
Except the back corner table.
The sound of dice hitting the hard surface of the table turned the attention to where about a dozen men sat playing their dice game, throwing their quarters into the middle of the table that served as the "pot," drinking their coffee or tea.
This group of elderly men occupy this corner table every Monday through Saturday from 7-9 a.m. and they call themselves the "Table of Knowledge." The group - mostly retired Staples businessmen or Staples-Motley Schools teachers or administrators - said the "Table of Knowledge" consists of intellects, rednecks and philosophers.
"The first part of the morning, the people who are around this table right now, are the rednecks," said Duane Lund, who was a Staples Schools superintendent for 25 years. "The intellects come later in the morning. There are about 45-50 of us, but not everyone comes in every morning.
"The intellects don't shake dice like we do, they get into world politics."
But this particular Friday morning, the rednecks got a little serious and talked about the struggles of the economy.
Lund said, "I'm optimistic. The reason is because the administration and both presidential candidates and their parties are taking the financial struggles seriously and are working together, so it'll happen."
Lee Jenkins, a retired businessman from Staples, said, "I don't know how they'll pull out of it and I'm sick of all the political talk. The economy is bad, it's nasty and I heard this morning on the news that it's a good possibility that Black Friday will be today (Friday)."
Norm Krause, a retired Central Lakes College instructor and now a farmer, believes that the reason why the economy is so bad is because too many people were living beyond their means. Krause said the sad part of the economy is that many people had all their money in their 401(k) plan, which has shrunk and now those people are emotionally drained.
"It's tough," he said.
Tom Honek, a retired Staples school teacher, agreed with Krause and said now that the money is gone people will have to play catch up and "everyone is going to have to take a piece of the bullet. We all have to do our share."
Orv Meyer, a Wadena County commissioner who is not seeking re-election this fall, said the people are the ones who got the world into the financial mess and the government should have stayed out of trying to fix it and let the private industry handle it. Meyer is referring to Bush's $700 bailout plan, which in part buys distressed mortgages.
Stan Carlson, a Staples City Council member, said the bailout plan is a mistake and that all it will do is bail out the rich. Carlson said the economy would have been bad if the government intervened or not and now that the government did intervene, the recovery period will take longer.
"If the government would have stayed out of it, it would've corrected itself anyway," Carlson said of the economy.
Jack Wilson, who was the Staples mayor for 18 years, also opposes the bailout plan. Wilson said the government should just take the $700 billion and distribute the money to the people to pay off their mortgages or bad loans and then let the banks deal with the aftereffect.
Carlson said he's upset by the amount of money the government paid to put the bailout plan to a vote.
Pat Miller, a retired CLC instructor, said the banks got the world into this economic mess because they continued to lend out unsecured loans to people and encouraged people to buy loans. Miller said he's optimistic, but said the economy most likely will not come around until the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010.
Darrell Monson, who's a fishing tackle manufacturer, said he's going to keep working - he's not planning to retire anytime soon. He said his sales have been down 25 percent.
Jim Hofer, a retired Staples-Motley Schools principal, said he's not taking any of his retirement money out because of the weak economy.
Well, by the end of the conversation about the economy, the "Table of Knowledge" rednecks weren't able to solve the world's financial problems, but they had enough of their own silver to get them through a few hours of happiness with friends. The many laughs and cracks the group made to each other were free - or should we say priceless.
JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.
To Subscribe to the Brainerd Dispatch, Click Here.
Note: Comments are not edited and don't represent the views of The Brainerd Dispatch. Please read our posting rules in the terms of service policy. To report a post that may be inappropriate, click the triangle alert icon.
|
|
|
|
|
 Top Commented Articles
Over the last 7 days
Most Recent Comments
|
|
|
|
Thinking about a New Job?
These employers want you!
|
Loading...
|
|
|
Today's Best Classifieds:
|
|
|
|
|
|
