Mark Jerde wrote:

When I was in high school I was going to the state basketball tourney
about 350 miles away. My wheels (owned by dad) were on a marginal
Pinto. When I got home there was a new bottom-of-the-line Mercury
Comet in the drive. He didn't want me driving a marginal car 700+
miles, and he had the $ to make the change.

BTW, this bothered the h*ll out of me at the time. None of my friends
families were able to do that. Everyone else was carpooling down in their
semi-POS's. And the Comet was no more cool than the Pinto.

It took me years to learn to give and receive graciously. America is the,
"I Did It Myyyyyy Waaaaaaay!" culture. In other cultures large gifts from
one generation to the next are more common.

-- Mark