“Still, the boy’d be better off going door-to-door for a few years, while looking round for something better, than just rotting away on the dole,” insisted Jack.

“Maybe, but he’d need his licence to go door-to-door,” said Frank, “and he hasn’t got it.”

“There’s no law saying he can’t go for his licence, is there?” asked Jack.   “You don’t have to be born with a driver’s licence, you know.   These days there’s a test you can go for and if you pass they sell you a licence to drive.”

Ignoring Jack’s sarcasm, Frank said, “Still, he’d need a car and doesn’t have one.”

“Why doesn’t he buy a car?” asked Jack.   “Surely he can afford at least a bomb that’d do him a year or two till he could lash out and buy something better?”

“Dream on,” said Frank.   “Where’d he ever get the money for even a bomb, going straight onto the dole from school?   I sure as hell don’t have anything saved up to loan him.”

“If he’s been on the dole for a few years he should have saved a few hundred dollars by now,” insisted Jack.   “How much does he get a week on the dole?   $250?   $300?   $350?”

“Forty-nine dollars ninety-five.”

Jack looked shocked by this revelation, however, he quickly recovered his composure and said, “Still, I bet you keep him rent-free, right?”

“We have to,” said Frank, “otherwise he’d starve.”

Jack laughed then said, “He’s really got you dancing on a string!   If he hasn’t got bed and board to pay he should be living on Easy Street on forty-nine ninety-five.   It’s a wonder he doesn’t have his own Rolls Royce by now, or hasn’t he been on the dole long enough?”

“Look, those jobs are all jilts!” insisted Gladys, coming to Frank’s aid.   “My son David got stranded in the middle of nowhere, going door-to-door, a few years back.

“The firm advertised a weekly wage of $900, regardless of whether or not you sold anything, plus 5% commission on all sales.   And you didn’t even need a driver’s licence.”

“Sounds all right,” said Jack.

“Yes, it did,” agreed Gladys.   “They called round in a panel van to pick him up each morning, drove him out to his sales area, then picked him up again and brought him home each night.   “Everything went All right for a week, except that he hadn’t managed to sell anything.   However, when they stopped to pick him up on pay night, they were bloody mad when they found out he still hadn’t sold anything.   They swore at him and accused him of trying to take their money for work he hadn’t done.   They not only refused to pay him anything, but they drove off before he could get into the car, leaving him stranded in the middle of the whoop whoops.   He had to walk back nearly twenty kilometres, and didn’t get home till well after midnight.”