Show me a successful man, and I'll show you an enterprising youngster. You're proof of that.

As a kid we lived on the edge of a upper-crusty neighborhood, and I was around your age too when I started taking photos of the homes from the front gate, processing and enlarging them in my home darkroom and trying to sell them to the owners (they were hardly ever home, protected behind tall gates and driveways). I did moderately well - not great, but it fueled a passion for enterprise that's never left me. Those were the days.

 

Thanks for sharing, it's great to hear of success stories and how very enterprising people can be. Amazing how many of us here are hardworking 'can do' people. i recall those precious 'hungry years' and the ups and downs.. and will never forget the kindness of those who helped along the way. Of course in some ways the Grateful Dead had it right, "What a long strange trip it’s been."

Still, twice a year i take time to critically look back at the past plus the usual annual assessment of YoY and plans for the coming year. Living out of one's car for months and barely having enough food to eat has a way of perhaps sharpening one's gratitude later on in life.

Many thanks for sharing, always interesting to see how others have succeeded in life at an early age.

 

I hated to mow the lawn with our push mower in sixth grade but the church and the neighbors paid money. Later I bought my first motorcycle, a Yamaha 250, and paid for it washing dishes in the hospital kitchen. I too have been to the bottom and prefer not to go back.

 

My family were war refugees. We were pretty well off in Vietnam. When we arrived in the States in 1975, I wondered to myself, what happened to our maids? We left all of our assets to our relatives for the coming hard times. We had nothing. We lived in the ghetto in a three bedroom apartment with 6 people. There were drivebys, drugs, and all sorts of crime. I had two jobs after school at 13 years old. I was a newspaper delivery boy. I was a deckhand on a sports fishing boat. I did a lot of odd bus boy and short order cook jobs to help my parents out. I don't know why a lot people nowadays whined so much about what's not given to them. I don't understand why everyone thinks they are entitled to something. I have families that are fairly successful and they still work 14 hour days.

 

I can not tell you all how nice it is to hear that our members are working men. I have had fears of this group thinking I was just not really belonging to such a high class crowd. Not that this is not a classy group but it is an earned position and with work comes appreciation. Thanks for letting me play.

 

It's nice to hear the war stories and know that we're not alone.

However, at my age, given the choice of working hard or working smart, I know which one I'd go for!

 

You needn't worry. As Groucho Marx once said, "I won't join any club that will have me as a member."

Class is what you make it. My wife, normally an elegant, disciplined lady with excellent taste in fashion, eats her evening meal in front of TV.

I still eat at the table, looking a bit like Steve Martin's character Ruprecht in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels." (Incidentally, my all-time favorite film).

How's that for class!