A month or so ago, I took my wife to see the second installment of “The Hunger Games“, a movie called, “Catching Fire“. It shows a (far-fetched) possible future of class warfare, poverty, and government oppression. The wife & I have both read all three of the books in the series, and found the story to be a well rounded, entertaining read. Thankfully, the movie makers have done a rather good job of converting the books into movies. I’d recommend both the books, as well as the movies.

While we settled in to our theater seats, a trailer for an upcoming movie started, American Hustle. The very first scene almost gave me whiplash as I had my head turned talking to my wife. One of the characters says, “Always take a favor over money”.

I was startled by this, because it was something I’ve always believed.

 The trailer:

Now I cannot vouch for any other part of the movie…but that one line, to me, is GOLD.

Several years ago, while watching our daughters play softball together, I was talking to a regional manager about a business idea I had thought up. I wasn’t actually interested in doing it, I simply wanted to know his thoughts on it as a business. Standing with us as I described the idea was a local Deputy Sheriff that we both knew well. The deputy, upon hearing the idea, was rather excited about the concept, and suggested that I go for it and that I would probably do very well with it, making quite a bit of money.

He didn’t know me very well…..

I told him I wasn’t motivated by money, I was motivated by favors. He laughed in my face and told me I was crazy- EVERYONE is motivated by money, and favors don’t get anything done like money can.

I looked him in the eye, and knowing he was an honest officer of the law, asked him if he’s ever pulled someone over, and by breaking out their checkbook or a wad of cash, and had their ticket and legal problems went away.

His response was borderline insulted, as I expected. Calming him, I went on, asking if he has ever pulled someone over, and the detainee pulled out a phone, made a call, and the problems went away.

He completely understood what I was saying .

Its not always about how much money you have, rather more about who you know that owes you a favor.

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I’m a huge fan of favors. Part of the reason is that I love to help people. Growing up in a small, tight-knit community in rural America, cash money was rather scarce. But there was plenty of time and effort available. We grew up understanding that if someone helped you, you were obligated to return that effort, and usually tenfold.

I am constantly trying to gather effort in my favor for this reason. Rare is the time when I actually call them in, but when I do, it almost always pays off.

Conversely, it is a rare moment when I ask a favor of someone. Of the few folks I truly owe favors to, I actually lose sleep some nights, trying to sort out how to pay it back.

Silly, you might say…but that is my nature.

It has been an unofficial part of my business model for as long as I’ve been self-employed. Not many days go by that some aspect of “favors over money” doesn’t come up.A professional referral for a service provider is one such “favor”. I don’t ask for kickbacks, and don’t offer them. I take good care of ALL customers, and expect those few I refer out to do the same. This is simply a favor.

Other times it is simply someone looking to buy or sell an item that I’m know to be able to find or move, such as a firearm. Many of my friends and colleagues understand that I know a lot of folks interested in such things. I rarely ask anything in return for finding a buyer or a seller….other than, “You owe me”.

And most times, if I need a piece of information, or a little assistance in some way, that person that I helped months, or even years ago, is very happy to oblige me.

Favor vs. Money is simply a barter system on credit. Applied properly, both parties benefit, and this only strengthens the relation between them. If this were to become an every day thing, our communities would become stronger places, tighter knit together by the bonds of trust and commerce combined…

…two things that rarely come together these days.

So having said all that, let me ask a simple favor of you. In the top right of this page is a banner that says “Vote for Me Top Prepper Sites”. If you will click on this link, or that picure, and vote for me, I’d be in your debt.

This will drive more traffic to my site, helping me to grow. If you do this every day that you read my articles, I’ll be forever grateful to you. And in return, I’ll continue writing as often as I can.

So one minute of your time will be exchanged for two hours of mine, roughly the amount of time I spend writing an article. That is a 120% return on your invested time…. In addition, the link will take you to a list of my blogging associates, many of them personal friends that also write. At the time of this writing, there are 50 linked prepper pages, covering all manner of prepping articles.

Is that a fair exchange? If not, no sweat, I understand…and I’ll probably still keep writing anyway.

Just askin’ 🙂

Peace,
db

As always, please “like” FloridaHillbilly on Facebook, subscribe to my feed,  follow me on Twitter, vote for me on “Top Prepper Websites”, add me on Google+, Pinterest, Linkdn, Digg, and/or tell your friends! The more folks that start behaving like ants, the fewer grasshoppers there will be left needing help.

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