Dudley Do-right

We all know a Dudley. He’s the guy who quietly does his chores, his job, without a question. He picks up the stray bit of paper on the ground. On weekends he might be found along the roadside picking up litter. Or maybe going door to door to find out who lost a glove, a left handed one. Looks good; thumb end is a bit frayed, but you know the darn thing has a lot of life left in it. Especially if matched with the pairing glove.

Dudley goes to the market and picks the produce that looks wilted and bruised. He buys it because he knows no one else will select it. Somehow he feels its abandonment before it happens. But he knows; he feels.

Same with the dented used car. Otherwise it is a handy thing, lots of life left in it. It’s the kind of car that will go 150,000 miles without a hiccup. Not stylish, but serviceable. But it’s the last one left on the lot. Eventually the lot owner rotates it to the auction lot and if not takers are found there, to the scrap yard. A tear might seep from Dudley’s eye if he dwelled on it long enough.

Anyway, Dudley does things because he feels the action is good and appropriate. He avoids action that feels at odds with him. He just knows it. He feels it. In his bones. He can’t explain it to you. No; you have to ‘get’ it on your own.

Dudley doesn’t spend money he doesn’t have, either. Oh, for convenience’ sake he will use a charge card or debit card, but when the credit card invoice arrives, he’s Johnny on the spot to pay the balance in full. He doesn’t look forward to buying anything, really, because it ramps up his expectations and doesn’t want to overdo that and buy before he has saved up the money. Buying cars in this manner is a major project as you can well imagine. Well, Dudley has that figured out. Used cars do just fine and his savings pay all repair and maintenance bills as they arise. So he really doesn’t miss the new car smell.

It’s the gadgets sold in the car he has a small hankering for. So far, though, he has controlled his impulse to buy a car with self applying brakes, back up cameras, and GPS systems. He bought a Garvin unit on the cheap and that’s pretty nifty to him. It’s all he needs.

He used to read a lot of books, buying them one at a time in a book store. People younger than Dudley don’t know about those stores; they read their material off the internet or electronic readers. Dudley, however, buys from used book sales and sometimes buys books that the local library has surplused.

And of course there is the library itself. At first Dudley couldn’t believe his eyes and ears! Books, lots of them, all for him to read if he so chooses and at no cost to him. He can even explore previous unknown titles, authors and subject matter and see if he’s interested in them. Slowly he builds interests. And he reads more. And more broadly.

Dudley has learned to repair his own home, too. From the books in the library, he especially liked learning about how the toilet works and how to make simple repairs. Dudley has never bought a replacement toilet. He just doesn’t feel the need. The old ones work just fine, thank you.

Dudley sometimes takes time to sit and think about things. What’s important and what’s not is the most common wonderment Dudley fiddles around with. Meanwhile, others wonder what makes Dudley happy. They don’t get it. They don’t realize that a Dudley can be happy without all the fuss and muss of buying stuff.

Of course, retailers do not like Dudley or others like him! They scratch their heads trying to figure out how to attract Dudley into their stores and spend some money. So far they have come up with nothing that works.

Dudley just keeps on his simple track. He consumes little and enjoys what he has a lot. Mostly that is time and uncomplicated surroundings.

It’s a pity, isn’t it? Poor Dudley. We wonder when he will get it!

Meanwhile we just watch him. And wonder.

August 19, 2015