Hard Workin' Man
I'm a hard workin' man I wear a steel hard hat I can ride, rope, hammer and paint Do things with my hands that most men can't I can't get ahead no matter how hard I try I'm gettin' really good at barely gettin' by
Got everything I own By the sweat of my brow From my four-wheel drive to my cowboy boots I owe it all to my blue collar roots I feel like I'm workin' overtime on a runaway train I've got to bust loose from this ball and chain
I'm a hard, hard workin man I got it all on the line For a peace of the promised land I'm burnin' my candle at both ends 'Bout the only way to keep the fire goin' Is to outrun the wind
Come Friday night I like to party hard I carry on with the Cadillac cuties Spend my whole week's pay on some weekend beauty Come Monday mornin' I'm the first to arrive I ain't nothin' but business from nine till five
I'm a hard, hard workin man I got it all on the line For a peace of the promised land I'm burnin' my candle at both ends 'Bout the only way to keep the fire goin' Is to outrun the wind
I can't wait to get up in the mornin' And do it all over again Well I'm a hard livin', hard workin' man
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Ronnie Dunn
Hard Workin' Man lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
d.: Cal.E. is at work today, so I will be writing this blog. aline today.
Benjamin Franklin once famously said, “Early to bed, early to rise makes one healthy, wealthy, and wise.” Ted Turner, a millionaire entrepreneur of the last two centuries paraphrased the founding father later. His motto is, “Late to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited with saying, “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.” That is not the actual quote, but the idea is the same. If one has a superior product, it is not hard to sell. My inclination, though, is to believe that what Ted Turner said is more accurate than the other two quotes in the twenty-first century.
Ted Turner did have the advantage of being raised by a father who was rich enough to send him to an Ivy League University. Turner has a degree from Brown University. However, even without this elite education, I believe he still would have been a successful businessman. Why do I say that?
Because a Houston Icon “pulled himself up by his bootstraps” when he moved here from Dallas and became very successful. Jim MacIngvale, a.k.a. “Mattress Mac,” has made himself into a very successful businessman by following what Turner said. No one in Houston would argue that “Mattress Mac” didn’t work hard to earn his money, and his advertisements are omnipotent.
When I moved to Greater Houston in 1987, Gallery Furniture had one store, on the North Freeway, and it was a tent. Apparently, MacIngvale moved here with little money in his pocket. I have heard every figure from $100 to $1,000. Suffice it to say, it wasn’t much. That, I suppose, is why “Mattress Mac” couldn’t secure a very big loan to build his furniture store, so he made his store out of a large tent.
Additionally, for the first five to ten years I lived in Houston, Gallery Furniture offered to bring the furniture its customers bought at the original store in an unmarked truck, and after hours. That was so that no one would know that the customer bought “discount furniture.” Flash forward thirty-five years.
The Gallery Furniture Store closest to where I live is immaculate. One could live in it and never want for anything if that person has enough money, I believe. I haven’t been able to locate the showers yet, but someone told me they do exist. I believe that.
Most Houstonians agree that “Mattress Mac” is a good-hearted person. Besides donating to multiple charities, he let people who needed to get to “higher ground” stay in his store on the Grand Parkway during Hurricane Harvey. I wasn’t one of those people, because my wife and I had family close to the store. That is where we stayed, but it is comforting to know that we would have been able to move into Gallery Furniture if we didn’t have family in the area.
Maybe his generosity has something to do with MacIngvale’s success. Now, one can buy Sealy Posture-Pedic mattresses and High Point Hybrid furniture at his stores. This is some of the best, if not THE best furniture in the world. Now, when someone sees the truck from Gallery Furniture stop at a house, all that family’s neighbors assume that family is doing well financially. Not everyone can afford furniture from Gallery.
To end this blog, I would like to point out that both Ted Turner (83) and Jim MacIngvale (71) are still alive. Although many Houstonians worry that “Mattress Mac” is suffering from health problems when we see him in his commercials, he assures us that he is not. MacIngvale is quick to point out that, thirty-five years ago, He was a young, very energetic man. Just because he does not jump in the air and declare that Gallery Furniture “Really will save you money,’’ as he holds up dollar bills that fly out of his hands to the surrounding area; he assures us that he is healthy. “Mattress Mac” quickly points out that he is seventy-one. He says that he is passed the age of jumping around to get attention (nor does he need to).
My guess, though, is if either Turner or MacIngvale retired, he would die quickly. Each is doing what he enjoys. Take that away from someone, and it does not leave that person a reason to get up in the morning.
This has been d.c. scot, with one man’s opinion.