Wednesday, April 16, 2014

The Worst Advice My Father Ever Gave Me

"just because somebody CAN do something doesn't mean they ever will."

Amen brother.  A-freaking-men.

I will merely add my favorite quote of all time:

"When you come from, it's gone.  Where you thought you were going to?  Weren't never there.  And where you are ain't not good unless you can get away from it."

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I heard similar things from my father. He's lazy. He's been a wage-slave-come-home-to-television guy every day of his life. I'm certain his father had a lot to do with that.

Aquinas Dad said...

I hope you don't mind a personal anecdote.
You know what my father told me?
"Most people wouldn't know how to make money if you old them. If you can't make money buying and selling stuff other people make, you'd better like working for idiots".
A month later I bought a crate of blow-pops (remember them?) wholesale from the father of a classmate and started riding the middle school bus to high school. I made $0.08 profit per sucker (I mean the candy) and was selling 200 *a day* 5 days a week in less than 60 minutes of 'work' a day. I was clearing $350 a month at 15 by riding the bus.
My dad has always, *always*, worked for himself barring a stint in the army. When I told him what I was doing he opened a bank account for me.
The school shut me down because commerce wasn't allowed on the bus. I was actually messing up the candy bar fundraiser they ran because a huge amount of the candy is eaten by the kids themselves - they were getting my suckers instead.
So I joined the HS candy fundraiser (long ago they were $0.50 apiece) and rode buses with 'Buy One, Get One Free - $1.00 each) signs.
yeah, you read that right. I was selling fifty cent candy bars for a buck with a buy one get one free promotion.
I sold 5 times as many of the damn things as the second place kid; got prizes and such all over.
So I talked to the company rep and asked him how to buy the candy right from him. I was soon clearing $800 a month profit selling those candy bars myself.
FINALLY the point.
My three closest friends knew *exactly* what I was doing and how. I told two other friends about it and an older kid that lived near me knew, too. Guess how much competition I had?
That's right - zero. None. I eventually HIRED my all six of those guys to sell for me and not only did none of them ask for a cut of the profits from their sales (I paid $5 a day they sold, only if they sold) my best friends *turned it down* as risky.
The entire enterprise lasted about 9 weeks before the school dropped the hammer. A lot of the kids were using lunch money, borrowing money, even taking their parent's money from their purse to buy my candy. The principal threatened to suspend or even expel me until my Dad laughed and said he would just call the newspaper and see if they were curious about a kid expelled for selling candy bars on the bus when that was the annual fund raiser for the same school.
A year later I told my nephew (close in age to me) what I did and how to do it. He said he wouldn't because he might 'get in trouble'.
It is crazy - there is money literally lying around and people can't be bothered to pick it up

Aquinas Dad said...

I hope you don't mind a personal anecdote.
You know what my father told me?
"Most people wouldn't know how to make money if you old them. If you can't make money buying and selling stuff other people make, you'd better like working for idiots".
A month later I bought a crate of blow-pops (remember them?) wholesale from the father of a classmate and started riding the middle school bus to high school. I made $0.08 profit per sucker (I mean the candy) and was selling 200 *a day* 5 days a week in less than 60 minutes of 'work' a day. I was clearing $350 a month at 15 by riding the bus.
My dad has always, *always*, worked for himself barring a stint in the army. When I told him what I was doing he opened a bank account for me.
The school shut me down because commerce wasn't allowed on the bus. I was actually messing up the candy bar fundraiser they ran because a huge amount of the candy is eaten by the kids themselves - they were getting my suckers instead.
So I joined the HS candy fundraiser (long ago they were $0.50 apiece) and rode buses with 'Buy One, Get One Free - $1.00 each) signs.
yeah, you read that right. I was selling fifty cent candy bars for a buck with a buy one get one free promotion.
I sold 5 times as many of the damn things as the second place kid; got prizes and such all over.
So I talked to the company rep and asked him how to buy the candy right from him. I was soon clearing $800 a month profit selling those candy bars myself.
FINALLY the point.
My three closest friends knew *exactly* what I was doing and how. I told two other friends about it and an older kid that lived near me knew, too. Guess how much competition I had?
That's right - zero. None. I eventually HIRED my all six of those guys to sell for me and not only did none of them ask for a cut of the profits from their sales (I paid $5 a day they sold, only if they sold) my best friends *turned it down* as risky.
The entire enterprise lasted about 9 weeks before the school dropped the hammer. A lot of the kids were using lunch money, borrowing money, even taking their parent's money from their purse to buy my candy. The principal threatened to suspend or even expel me until my Dad laughed and said he would just call the newspaper and see if they were curious about a kid expelled for selling candy bars on the bus when that was the annual fund raiser for the same school.
A year later I told my nephew (close in age to me) what I did and how to do it. He said he wouldn't because he might 'get in trouble'.
It is crazy - there is money literally lying around and people can't be bothered to pick it up

Unknown said...

My father was certainly never lazy. He taught me a lot of very useful stuff. Lots of manly things like building things, the value of hard work and countless others.
But, he really did buy into the traditional ideal of success.
I don't blame him for what he said that day, it is what he understood about life.
I am happy, however that my understanding of it has surpassed his myopic views.

Aaron, I really appreciate the linkage. My stats blew up unexpectedly from this. I've enjoyed your blog for months. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you.
VM

Anonymous said...

OT - here's one where the father COULD be reached for comment.

Clearly the estranged father had regular access to his daughter since he only found out she was pregnant a month before she gave birth.

Ghost of 503 said...

"I am happy, however that my understanding of it has surpassed his myopic views."

My own father could fit into a lot of those old conformities. Hard work, marriage, family, kids. He unintentionally taught me another thing, much more important: This was what it took to win in my time. Understand what it takes to win in yours, and follow suit.

CA3 said...

That guy probably has a lot of stories of bad advice his father gave him.

Simian Browse said...

When I was 18 I told my dad I wanted to go to school to continue playing sports. I suggested Ventura College since it was close to home. He said, "You should play in So. California. Better chance someone might notice you there."
The next year, Ventura College won the state championship and my team went 5-18.
I told him I wanted to get into business on some level. He suggested I major in English because it shows an employer "...that at least you know how to communicate effectively."
What followed was a lifetime of retail hell.
Thanks, Dad.
BTW, my dad was a coke dealer who invested most of his $30K a month revenue into getting high. Way to take care of those 2 kids, Dad.
Asshole.

Factory said...

Ministry fan, are you? Excellent choice.