If I sell it for junk, I can buy it for junk.

摘要

What in the heck does my title mean? Am I talking about junk or trash? Neither; I am talking about honesty, fairness, and integrity. I worked at my father's scrap yard from the age of 10 through college. Everything purchased was either scrap iron or scrap metal. In other words, "junk." However, some of this junk was usable, that is, angle iron, pipe, steel plates, rebar, etc. This usable material was placed in a separate place called "salvage." When my dad sold this salvage to contractors and others who were able to use recycled materials, he sold it for just a few pennies more than the price he would be paid from the mills and smelters to whom he sold scrap. When I asked my dad why he did not sell the salvage for a price closer to what the hardware stores and building suppliers charged, he gave me the quotation that has stuck with me for my entire life. "