Well I know where this passage came from, it's a similar conversation that many of my friends had with our bankers during the eighties. Some businesses and farms didn't make it, some people couldn't take it and a piece of rope or a rifle was their choice of escape others like Ron persevered for as long as they could. This piece from Les Gillespies gold is some of my story.
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| A bit of history from my Orroroo Days Mk 1 Cortina trunk-lid Danny Probert's Dirt Circuit Car |
Ron Reardon pushed a hand through
his greying hair, he and his banker were walking around the paint and panel
shop. Grass had died between the back walls and the fences, everywhere between
was cleared by the four, pet sheep laying in the shade of an abandoned four-wheel-drive.
A few wrecks in a line against the back of the used car yard fence. Ron had
never used the second-hand yard and to him it was useless real estate.
Two months ago,
a major customer declared bankruptcy, Ron had hoped for thirty cents in the
dollar, but after the tax office and the first mortgage holders, there was
nothing left for creditors. Now he was in trouble and the banker had told him
as much only a few weeks ago. He had to sell, his latest loan application could
be approved, but only with more security and at a higher interest rate. The
last thing they could afford was more interest.
‘I can’t do it
to Polly, there’s no way I’ll put the house on the line.’ He said.
‘I’ve known you
a long time now, mate and I know how much you’ve invested yourself into the
business. If you don’t find the security, maybe it’s time to call it quits. Look,
if it were me, I’d declare the business bankrupt and walk away. Ron, you’re not
fifty yet, start again.’ The banker tried to keep their mood upbeat.
‘The house is
freehold. If I did it, we’d still keep our home, yeah?’
‘I don’t think
so.’ He shrugged, ‘personal guarantees...’ He rested his backside on the front
tyre of a tractor. ‘I don’t expect you’d have much to pay creditors either.’
‘Just my debtors’
ledger?’
‘First
mortgagee. There’s the personal guarantees too, so the bank ’ll take that too,
I’m sorry.
‘Sorry bullshit,
what your saying is, I’m fucked. Twenty years of slog down the drain. Got any
good news.’
