Earlywood: Yuppie Tools

A True Accounting

Publisher’s note: Unlike some actions in this post, we like to think that beginning your weekends with Earlywood does make you a winner. Published every Saturday, Earlywood is a free excerpt from one of the thousands of pieces I’ve written since 1996. Sometimes it’s from a magazine article. Or a book. Or (in this case) a blog post from 2010. Each entry has been updated or annotated with some modern context or point of view. We hope you enjoy it.

Years ago, in a bar outside Philadelphia, Thomas Lie-Nielsen, John Economaki and I were having a drink and talking about the people who are getting rich selling tools. I was on my second beer and running on four hours of sleep. A magazine editor at the time, I fumbled and dropped the veil of fairness and impartiality.

“You know who is getting rich? The (bleep) who is selling the cheesy drill bit sets at Home Depot,” I said. “I think there is an inverse relationship between wealth and tools. Those who make the most expensive tools are the poorest…