Tag: anchorage-alaska

T-SHIRT TRAVELS

“Several of my most interesting pieces of apparel come from, of all places, the local second-hand thrift stores.”

One thing I love about Lake Havasu City is that shorts and T-shirts are the attire of the day. I rarely wear anything else. You can’t differentiate between billionaires and the average Joe by the clothes they wear in this town.

For me, wearing shorts and tees hasn’t always been the case. In Alaska, there were summer days worthy of such, but these were short-lived. I sported them while cycling, but even then, long pants came in handy on rainy and windy days, which were often. Hypothermia was something I learned about in school, and I wisely avoided it.

My favorite tees are those designer ones purchased all over the globe. Lightning Bolt surfboard T-shirts were my favorite when I was young, and I still have the first one from Hawaii. It’s now in a shadowbox frame hanging in my garage as a memento of sorts. My daughter used it as nightwear, and I have a photo of her modeling things when Miranda was around four years old.

I’ve got a tee from the first ‘Street Machine Nationals’ in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This was in 1976, and it was the largest gathering of car enthusiasts, with well over 1,000 cars. That vehicle record was recently broken when over 3500 vehicles convened in Tulsa for a cruise.

Joleen and I still have sunburn scars from that Tulsa show 50 years ago because we didn’t wear enough sun protection. A year later, in 1977, in St. Paul, Minnesota, I picked up a shirt at the ‘Street Rod Nationals’. That one has moth holes in it yet is still packed away somewhere.

My wife and I have attended ‘The Run to the Sun’ here in town for more than three decades, and we still have plenty of shirts from those events. I wear the older ones on occasion, and I’m surprised at how many senior residents do the same.

These days, I’m always looking for unique newer shirts, with my latest purchase being a nice one featuring the Havasu Cars N’ Coffee logo, which takes place at Rotary Park on the first and third Sunday mornings here in Havasu from sunrise to 9.

Another recent purchase features Albert Einstein working on a small-block Chevrolet with a wrench in his hand. I’m not sure when that picture of him was taken. Several of my most interesting pieces of apparel come from, of all places, the local second-hand thrift stores. I’ve discovered shirts from events I would’ve liked to attend but couldn’t.

Harley-Davidson tees were my favorite for a while, but at close to $40 a pop, that fetish soon ended. One shirt that I have my sights on proclaims, “I welded and it helded.” Only mechanic types will get the humor here.

My Havasu ensemble now consists of around six pairs of shorts and approximately 200 T-shirts. Some ‘Run to the Sun’ golf shirts are also included with the collection.’ I don’t play golf in these, but I do wear them to special events and out to dinner.

During Alaska winters, I remember calling Randy Randall in Havasu several times, with him telling me how warm it was, and that he was wearing shorts and a short-sleeve shirt. He did this to ‘rub it in’ more than anything. These days, I can do the same, but so far have refrained.

The summer months have a majority of the specialty shirts with California locations, while the winter months have a plethora of shirts from different states. I like to read them whenever possible, yet then again, don’t want to be caught staring at folks, especially if it’s someone’s wife or girlfriend.

Perhaps the funniest shirt I’ve ever come across was worn by a woman with weight issues. She still had a sense of humor with her shirt reading, “I beat anorexia.” I wanted to laugh, but held back, not knowing whether to or not.

My most prized shirt with a humorous motif came from J.C. Penney here in town. I’ve gotten more comments on it than on any other. “I’m not trying to be difficult – It comes naturally.”

That saying seems to get truer for me with each passing year. Friends, family, and my wife will agree on that. I’ll take it as a compliment.

BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU

“There came a day when a man in a suit walked in and asked if Troy Hankins was around.”

AI generated photo

Whenever I hear someone remark, “I’m going to report them to the Better Business Bureau,” I have to silently chuckle. I seldom hear the words ‘Better Business Bureau’ these days, although the organization still exists.

Wanting to know a bit about their history, I discovered enough to ‘whet my appetite.’ Folks from the millennial generation no longer use this statement and most likely haven’t a clue what it means.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB), formerly called the National Vigilance Committee, was founded in 1912 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing marketplace trust.

It began in response to the increasing prevalence of misleading advertising in the early 20th century, with business leaders and advertising executives coming together to promote honesty and integrity in business practices.

Over the years, the BBB has expanded across North America, offering services such as business accreditation, consumer education, dispute resolution, and facilitating trust between businesses and the public.

Today, the BBB is supposed to serve as a valuable resource for consumers seeking reliable information about companies and their reputations, though I have some reservations here.

I’ve never reported a business to the BBB, because as my father always said, they’re nothing more than a meddling complaint department with zero legal authority to do anything. My dad was a businessman for a good many years, and I recall one instance when he received a letter from the bureau.

He read it and then tossed the professionally written paper in the trash. Later that day, out of curiosity, I fished it out. An agent from the BBB was asking for a reply to a customer’s complaint, the exact problem I no longer remember.

Dad owned an auto parts store at this time, and I worked for him, so most likely someone wanted to return a part, and my father refused. This happened on occasion with electrical parts—for good reason. A customer would install a part, and if that part wasn’t the problem, the new part could then be ruined in the process.

Dad had a large sign hanging above the counter explaining this policy, and it was also printed on invoices. Employees were taught to verbally mention it as well.

Some customers evidently couldn’t read, and I say that because, on occasion, someone still tried to return electrical switches or relays regardless of the chiseled-in-stone store rule.

Refusing to reimburse money could be dangerous. I once had someone toss a heavy starter solenoid at me when I told him it couldn’t be returned. Another time, after hours, someone chucked a starter through the front store window.

Getting back to that BBB complaint, over time, Dad received at least two more letters regarding the same issue, and each time he laughed and told us employees what was inside. They all ended up in the wastebasket, ripped in half. Always curious, I made sure to remove and read them for myself.

There came a day when a man in a suit walked in and asked if Troy Hankins was around. When I said he was out to lunch, the fellow left a business card with his name on it. Better Business Bureau was typed on top.

I was busy when the BBB agent reappeared. Finding my father this time, there were a few choice words as Dad immediately showed him the front door. I can vaguely remember the fellow saying as he exited the premises, “You’ll regret this!”

As far as I know, nothing ever happened afterwards. Quite unusual, though, was the morning I walked in and found a fairly large plaque behind the counter, hanging next to the first dollar bill that Dad’s company ever made. On it was written:

Presented to Troy Hankins – Muldoon Auto Parts – Business of the Year! Above it was printed “Better Business Bureau” with their logo.

I never asked, but I have a sneaky suspicion that my father’s friend in the trophy business created that award. In Dad’s way of viewing things, I suppose that phony plaque meant about as much as the agency itself. Hearing other stories about BBB from friends who own businesses, I tend to feel the same.