One of the best pieces of advice I ever received came from a completely unexpected source -- the owner of a small clothing store on Yonge Street in downtown Toronto.
In the spring of 1954, a couple of months after I started working at the CPR, I’d saved enough money to buy some new clothes. It was payday, and on most paydays I treated myself to a steak dinner at Lindy’s, a family restaurant located on the east side of Yonge Street between Dundas and College that specialized in reasonably priced, wonderfully delicious steaks.
It was a lovely evening so I decided to walk from the CPR freight office at King and Simcoe, where Roy Thomson Hall is now, to Lindy’s, which took about half an hour. I checked out clothing-store windows all the way up Yonge St. with the intention of coming back to them after my steak dinner. A few doors from Lindy’s there was one called Lynn-Gold. Because it was so close to the restaurant I decided to drop in before having my dinner.
A well-dressed, greying, distinguished-looking, middle-aged gentleman asked if he could help me. I said I just wanted to look around. He said, “Well, take your time. Let me know if you have any questions.”
Carefully checking the price tags and keeping a tally in my head, I picked out a light jacket, a couple of shirts and a pair of slacks for which I had enough money to buy. I took them to the man I thought was a clerk, but who introduced himself as the owner, Max Gold.
He asked me my name and where I went to school. I told him my name, that I wasn’t a student, and that I worked at the CPR. He said, “Lyman, let me show you some selections that I think would look much better on you and will last a lot longer than these.” As he made each choice I again kept a mental tally of the cost. When he finished, I said, “Mr. Gold, these are far too expensive. They add up to almost three times the amount I can afford.”
“That’s all right,” he said, “give me a down payment now and drop in each payday and give me what you can until it’s paid off.” He went on to say, “You see, Lyman, when you buy something cheap, you may be happy when you pay for it, but you’ll be disappointed every time you use it. When you buy a quality article, you may be concerned when paying for it, but you’ll be pleased every time you use it.”
I pointed out that I was a minor and couldn’t enter into a binding contract. He said, “There’s no contract, just a sales slip. I trust you to keep your word that you’ll pay the balance when you can.” Needless to say, I was a loyal customer of Lynn-Gold until Max sold the business a few years later.
What a wonderful life lesson to learn about quality, value, and trust at the tender age of fifteen.