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'Good Ford' saves driving
"Enjoying our regular Sunday drive in the
country, honey?"
"I guess so, Daddy. Will we be here long?"
"Not long, honey. I think they're beginning to
move up ahead. Meanwhile, let's enjoy the view.
Now on our right over there about a mile, just
beyond those oil derricks, is beautiful
snow-capped Mount Colossus."'
"I can't see it, Daddy."
"Well, you could on a clear day, honey."
"What's a clear day, Daddy?"
"Hey! See, there, we're beginning to move.
Good Ford! We're up to five miles an hour. How
about that?"
"Why do you always say, 'Good Ford,'
Daddy?"
"Why, honey, he was just about the. most
popular President this country ever had. He was
the one who preserved our inalienable right to go
for Sunday drives in the country."
"I think we studied about that, Daddy. Wasn't
that when there was an energy crisis or a
recession or something?"
"Both, honey. The automobile factories were
closing down and things were in a mess-all
because those sneaky Arabs raised the price of oil
to $11 a barrel. But Mr. Ford sure showed
them."
"How, Daddy?"
"He raised the price to $14 a barrel, honey."
"Why, Daddy?"
"So we wouldn't use as much gasoline, honey.
Then, to help the poor auto factories, he decided
to give us tax rebates that's money-so we'd go
out and buy new cars. But Congress haggled.
They said some unpatriotic folks wouldn't buy
new cars. That's when he came up with an even "
better idea-The Good Ford Plan.
"What was that, Daddy?"
"You remember, honey. Instead of giving
everybody money to buy new cars-which maybe
some selfish folks wouldn't do-he simply gave
each and every American family a brand new car."
"But didn't that mean we'd use more gas,
Daddy?"
"Well, it was the same whether-we bought
them or gave them to use. And it sure was
popular.
orthur hoppe
innocent bystander
"But where did Mr. Ford think he'd get all the
gasoline for all those brand new cars, Daddy?"
"Why, he wasn't stupid, honey. He had lots of
ways in The Good Ford Plan. Now you see the
hillside over there? No, I guess you can't. But on
a clear day you'd see it was one of the biggest
open-pit coal mines around."
"Aren't they ugly, Daddy?"
"Well, maybe, honey. But we needed coal to
save on oil. It's a little smokey, I guess, but you
can't have everything.
"I guess so, Daddy. But some day I'd kind of
like to see the snow-capped Mount Colossus. And
maybe some day walk on the beach without
wearing my galoshes. And . . ."
"Hush, now, honey. Like I say, you can't have
everything. You just relax and enjoy our Sunday
drive. Hey! I think we're going to start moving
again."
(Copyright Chronicle Publishing Co. 1975)
Marriages xoaay
numerous, bland
It's become a duty, a ritual. The first order of business upon
entering my parents' house, after grabbing a sack of Doritos, is to
dig "through piles of newspapers to find the latest Independent.
Within Section B I find what I am looking for. The smiles of
I.opeful classmates gleam back at me from underneath the heading,
Local Couple Plans Summer Wedding.
Recent marriages have reduced the number of old chums who
are still single to less than half of our original class of 129. At age
twenty, I see the girls that I invited to slumber parties not so long
ago taking three-year olds to the doctor, pulling up roots to follow
their husbands to new parts of the country, and even some .'iving
through the shock of divorce. The boys who were taping
water-filled rubbers to classroom ceilings a few years ago are now
serious brick layers, dedicated farmers and earnest breadwinners.
The rapid pairing of these SHS alums with'n three years of our
high school graduation may be symtomatic of small town lifestyles.
But a look through any Sunday World-Herald indicates the numbc
of hitchins' going on in the Big City are equally numerous. And it's
enough to convince one that if divorce rates are on the increase,
marriage rates must be close be hind.
Moans
The topic of "getting married" produces a lot of moans and
groans in certain circles. "I'm glad it's her and not me," is a
amy struthers
OXOICQ
of
comment I've frequently used myself. Yet not even the most
adamant critic of the institution can deny its influence on Life in
These United States, nor the pressure the idea of marriage can
exert. It's become a staple subject for television situation comedies
and movies. A current film downtown describes the main character
as "every single girl who ever had to attend her younger sister's
wedding."
Even the hippie movement of what now seems like years ago
failed to shake the foundation of marriage. While the
superficialities of the ceremony have changed, the stigma of being
single after thirty remains. But to blame the number of weddings
simply on social pressures denies , the fact that many of those
walking down the aisle are doing so with their eyes wide open.
Requirement
What is it about marriage that has made it a virtual requirement
for staying alive in our society? What is it that keeps men and
women together for unbelievable numbers of years? What is it that
eventually has drawn even some of my most
stubbornly-independent acquaintances into marriage contracts?
The workings of marriage are still a mystery to me. It seems the
most difficult problem to work with would be the -econciling of
the need for security and constancy as opposed to the boredom
accompanying the sameness of the relationship, the need for new
stimulations and adventures in conflict with the charge of fidelity.
The worst possible end to a relationship would be not an
explosive knock-down drag-ouf , but a slow vanishing of everything
once thought exciting between two people. The blandness of
marriage is its worst enemy, not the other weman or the handsome
hairdresser.
V
OUR 4S6l6NrCKT THIS VE
IN W BUSINESS AprNlSTPAVlQN
CLASS IS TO DECLARE
ACADEMIC WWRJPTOr.
TUEX'fcE PREPARING US
TO GO OUT INTO TODAY'S
BL6HES5 WOELD AND DECLARE,
FINANCIAL BANKRUPTCY-
y i
page 4
daily nebraskan
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friday, february 28, 1975
