There was a time when penny loafers were very popular, especially for school children. The shoes had a slot up top in each, into which perfectly fit a penny, and many children actually did insert a pennies. Of course, was also once such a thing a candies and gum balls which also cost a penny, so if perchance you were passing a store that did sell penny candies, you were prepared.

True story: we once knew a guy named Kurt had worn penny loafers ever since his mother had gotten him his very first pair upon entering kindergarten. Much to her chagrin, Kurt insisted on placing dimes into the slots. Why should she fork over dimes instead of pennies to a child who didn’t understand the value of money, but little Kurt was adamant. His mother had drilled it into him that he should always be prepared, and since he was not a big fan of candy – what to speak of the fact that penny candy had gone the way of the dodo – where would a penny get him despite the somewhat eponymously named shoes, but in those days, public telephones abounded and cost to make a call? Ten cents. Even little Kurt knew that, having witnessed his mother using said phones. At least with dimes, he reasoned, he’d be prepared for something. Exasperated, she gave in.

Penny loafers eventually went out of style with seemingly everyone but Kurt, who wore them into adulthood and continued to place dimes in the inserts of each new pair. To place a call from a public phone was still ten cents, and one just never knew…

Shoe In?

The summer after Kurt had gotten his driver’s license, he decided to take a cross country road trip with a friend. Their destination: the Pacific Ocean to surf. All well and good but once he’d had enough of sun and surf, Kurt decided that what he really wanted to do was to go joy riding in the desert alone.  Being a teenage boy, he did venture off road, and after a time, the car came to a grinding halt.  Had hit or run over something? With not a single soul in sight, he needed to check it out or be stuck there for who knew how long?

He maneuvered himself under the chassis and meticulously inspected every square inch of the car’s underbelly. Eventually, he did locate the source of the problem and since he believed in always being prepared, while he didn’t have the parts to properly make the repairs, he did have duct tape and varies and sundries that would hold until he could get back to LA and a mechanic.

It took him quite a while to make the repairs, but at least all was still and quiet and peaceful in the desert so he could work, undisturbed.. An hour or so had passed, and he was suddenly aware of an acrid, almost putrid odor. He hadn’t noticed any dead animals around and would one decompose that quickly in the desert? Plus, there was no wind to have carried the odor. He came out from under the car and was startled to find that he was completely surrounded by a group of bedraggled humans for whom bathing was evidently a weekly or even monthly ritual, staring blankly at him. Kurt froze. One of the men walked up to him, broke out into a smile and asked, of all things,

 

“Hey, buddy, you got a dime?”

 

Kurt had no cash on him – why would you need money in the desert? – but if there was one thing that he always did have…

He removed a dime from the penny loafers and tossed it to the man, who again smiled and thanked him, and the group retreated as silently as they had arrived.

A few weeks later, the Manson Gang, who later proved to be responsible for the grisly Tate-LaBiaca murders, was apprehended, and Kurt recognized them from his encounter with that group in the desert, including the man who had asked him for the dime: Charles Manson. Kurt reported the incident to the police. The officer who took his story listened and when Kurt finished, the officer said to him, “Buddy, you might have bought your life for a dime.”

Note to Self

Starting a newco is difficult and there’s no end to what needs to be done. The task is seemingly overwhelming and it’s easy to ignore small details that you know must be addressed in favor dealing with the seemingly larger issues. But everything counts, even the smallest things and remember: the devil is always in the details, and you never know if and when that one small detail that you had ignored – or not – might have been the game changer, so pay attention. You just never know when things may turn on a dime. Onward and forward.