Initial Coal Offering that Went Bust

“There’s something we have to do today”, father told me on a Saturday morning. I was never allowed to sleep in on weekends and I expected we had to go to the orchard or do chores around the house. But I was confused with the pronoun ‘we’, as he stressed it very much.

I got dressed and dad was wearing his suit. He looked serious – as always – and yet, he seemed happy and even a bit anxious, a very rare state of him.

We didn’t take the car, but started walking on a sidewalk rarely anyone used. The sidewalk itself contrasted with our destination – paved with a century-old, worn-out bricks, it ended with a freshly built complex of white condos, almost a miracle for a village where the time stood still for ages.

There was only one shop in the complex – a bank branch. Its interior reflected pure opulence – marble floor, massive wooden tables and counters, exotic plants, computers. For an 11-year-old boy living in the countryside in 1986, it was a window to another world, the one I would learn about many years later.

“Good morning”, father greeted the teller. “I brought my son came to pick it up”. The teller smiled and handed me over a big, brown envelope with my name on it. I opened it and felt a finest paper under my fingers as its content, like a banknote. I was not wrong – it was a folded, two-page piece of paper printed in the same ‘pigeon gray’ color and paper as the largest bill at the time. A government bond. On its front page, there was a fine picture of a giant bucket-wheel excavator digging coal – the bond was meant to raise money for a new coal-fired power plant. The first page expressed the face value of 50,000 dinars and the second page consisted of 6 annual coupons containing interest and which had to be cut physically and cashed in at the bank.
Dad explained to me what the bond was and how it should be handled. “I won’t tell you how to spend the money, but in six years think wisely when you cash in the principal”. I felt proud – I had to take care of something for the next six years. I felt like a grown-up and that was a great feeling for somebody that young.

As years went by, horrendous inflation ate away almost all value of coupons. Although I would circle the maturity date at the beginning of each year, it gradually became the source of frustration, not joy. I remember the day when I cashed in the principal. The bank was empty and with heating broken. Plants were dying or already dead. Clerk, a young, good-looking woman 6 years before, transformed into old person unable to smile. “Ah, you came because of it. Too bad you didn’t come yesterday”. “Why?” I asked. “Well, then I wouldn’t have to mail two bonds separately”.

In further silence, she paid out the bond. 50,000 dinars. I crossed the street and bought a hamburger for that money. While eating it, I felt as if I betrayed my dad. I knew there wasn’t anything I had been able to do, but the disappointment was overwhelming. I lost something and the loss was beyond my powers to prevent it.

Sure, it was useful to learn about it in time, but you can never come to terms with those things. Even those people whose job is to take huge financial risks feel terribly when they experience loss. No matter how silly it may sound, but when a loss occur, you have to forgive yourself and continue. Or else, the true value that will be eaten away is your soul and your health.