Successful Swaps

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Somewhat nervously, I began asking garage owners if they could use my services. Sure enough! One man had a daughter who was about to enter college several hundred miles away. A long day's drive netted me an overhaul for just the price of the parts.

So now I have to thank MOTHER and her readers twice . . . once for giving me the idea for my livelihood, and again for turning me on to barter!

Brockton Sides
Anaheim, Calif.

I'm a writer by trade, andperhaps as a result of long hours at the typewriterI suffer from a painful arthritic condition in my neck.

Treatment by an expensive orthopedic surgeon and seven weeks of therapy didn't help much. Then a friend referred me to a Chinese acupuncturist of excellent reputation. After two weeks of treatment I felt great, and the benefits lasted for months.

Later, however, pressures began to mount and my neck started to hurt again. I tried to think of a way to afford more u acupuncture sessions (which aren't cheap) and must have wished powerfully, becausebefore longmy Chinese doctor telephoned to ask if I could suggest a possible publisher for a book he was writing.

Flash! I thought of MOTHER and the bartering principle she endorses . . . and offered Dr. T. my services in researching possible markets for his book, plus advice on structure, editing, etc., in return for his treatments. He was delighted.

Now my neck feels better, and the acupuncture tome is coming along just fine. Best of all, my swapping partner's going to need enough assistance to keep me in shape for a good long time . . . with no cash involved.

Lucy Beckstead
Wheat Ridge, Colo.

As a part-time beekeeper, I've often swapped honey for other goods and services. In the past I've traded the golden nectar for fresh milk and eggs . . . and have even had my garden plowed and my hay cut and baled for a little sweetener. One fella traded a welding job on my truck for a bit of beeswax.

If you've got something valuable to offer, the possibilities for barter have no limit!

Wayne Johnston
Lockport, Man.
Canada

We accept barter as a fact of life, and routinely make such exchanges as goat's milk for maple syrup, bread for babysitting, or windows for a repair job on our chain saw. However, one of our many swaps stands out from the others as highly unusual because it shows that even big business (and big government) stands to learn something from MOTHER.

I work for an electronics retailer. Our firm just recently traded some video equipment to a state university for a sizable quantity of audio tape which that institution wasn't using. On a cash basis, that deal would have amounted to several thousand dollars . . . but through barter not one penny changed hands. Andof courseboth parties thought they got the best of the deal.

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