It was common to have customers who couldn’t pay their bills at the junkyard. People would buy parts on credit, be unable to pay the bill, and we’d end up having to chase them down. It was even more common in property management; tenants regularly fell behind on their rent.
When this happened, in would step our favorite bill collecting agency and process server: Attila the Hun School of Charm. Seriously, that was the business name! And they did a great job. All of the guys working there looked like Hells Angels, so they had a knack for getting money out of a late payer. Heck, even the gals who worked there look like they could beat up a cop.
It dawned on me that I actually knew very little about Attila the Hun. While searching for a book about Rome, I came across Attila: The Barbarian King Who Challenged Rome. Figured I had to read it.
This is one of those books only a history lover would enjoy. It’s actually quite good and I enjoyed it, but I don’t recommend to anybody but true history buffs. Well, that and people who are particularly interested in shooting a bow & arrow while riding horseback!
The best part of the book was when the author deconstructs a lot of the myths about Attila. From movies to poetry, from paintings to historical accounts, there is a lot of misinformation about the man. That’s in part because, well, because he was a barbarian! It’s not like he sat down and wrote an autobiography in refined Latin while building massive structures in his honor. The guy spent his time eating, drinking, waging war, and scaring the hell out of his neighbors. As the author says, he was more plunderer than emperor. And that, ultimately, is why his primary legacy is his reputation rather than anything tangible. Or as the author says, “His legacy is his name, his image, and the mystery of what might have been.”
Anyway, a good read if you are interested in such things. If you aren’t, pass on it. And whatever you do, don’t fall behind in your payments to Attila the Hun School of Charm.
