In fifth grade I had a wonderful teacher, Mrs. Neal. Every day in her class was enjoyable, but like all teachers, she would sometimes miss days and we would have a substitute teacher.
One substitute teacher in particular stands out. He was an old man, and I can’t remember if he subbed for one day or a week (it felt like a loooong time). But I remember this, the dude must have been permanently scarred by the Great Depression. For every question, he gave the exact SAME answer… “Waste not, want not.”
That was his only answer.
“Mr. Teacher, can I have a piece of paper for my quiz?”
“Waste not, want not.”
“Can I get a hall pass to go to the bathroom?”
“Waste not, want not.”
“What’s the capital of Delaware?”
“Waste not, want not.”
He was a broken record.
The entire class was utterly confused. If it happened now, one of us would ask, “What the F**k is he talking about?”
And now, 35 years later, I finally understand.
In fact, because supply chains are so screwed up, yesterday, when my youngest was complaining about the lack of paper towels, it just shot right out of my mouth, “waste not, want not.” In fact, I kept saying it all day yesterday. At least until my oldest looked at my youngest and whispered “what the f**k is he talking about?”