At first the guy had me scared senseless. Wearing a two-day sweaty tank top and grimy jeans, the scruffy middle-aged guy with greasy hair and more than his fair share of bad tattoos strolled into the lobby of our motel.

“How much for two rooms?” The ink man inquired sharply without the slightest acknowledgment of the hateful sniffing attack or interest from him in my response.

It was at this exact moment, as I was trying to figure out how to tell Armpit Arnie that our vacant motel was full and my vision collided with his huge new forty-foot bus, that my dreams of becoming rich began to fade. disintegrate.

here a dollar, there a dollar, everywhere a dollar dollar

Something about this indifferent character intrigued me, and during his check-in at our motel I questioned Paulie Potential about how he had attracted the necessary resources to purchase such a fine mobile home. I mean, given the looks of him and the smell of him…

My curious probing was like pulling a wet dollar digit out of a dough dyke because it kept Banknote Bart talking at near full volume for three straight hours as he eagerly recounted his incredible roller coaster life.

He told me that four short years earlier he was a regular worker like me, trying to earn money while wondering if it was really possible to put in the effort at something he really wanted to do. His locksmith business had grown as tired as the old truck he loaded his well-experienced tools into and both had seen better days. An injection of emotion was urgently needed.

Locksmith Larry knew exactly what was needed: a new truck!

He went to his local bank, which had known him as a loyal customer all his life, and asked them to finance the diversion he now desperately wanted. The bank rejected him outright in a quick and painful lesson in economics.

Now devastated and despondent, Lowdown Lloyd headed home to lick the wounds of his esteem and reflect on his meaningless life with the kind of insight only cold beers and weepy tunes can provide. Oh, and in addition to the medicinal drink he also bought ONE lottery ticket.

Forty-eight hours later, guess which once-beer-drinking gambler was now $5.5 million richer for winning BC 649, the British Columbia, Canada provincial lottery?

Take this bench and push it

Immediately after the regulatory signatures, photos, and legal/financial warnings, Prosperous Pete drives his old jalopy straight to his “old” branch of a well-known Canadian bank to give them clear instructions on kite-flying. But alas, they were waiting for him and in the brief money-stealing ambush that followed, wealthy Alf didn’t stand a chance.

A bank executive efficiently led his new best patron to a secret office where he met a lucky fellow banker who was already enjoying a mid-morning cocktail in the fully stocked office/lounge. Cash Flow Cal was so overwhelmed with hospitality and boot-licking generosity that the account of him completely forgot to leave the bank, which had now become something of a personal concierge; book golf games, concert tickets and anything else Richie Rich wanted.

In an effort to live his fantasies and forget his past, this is how he spent his first four years of being loaded:

1. Lower the drawbridge – a lifelong renter, Swanky Sid built a $1 million dollar castle in Burnaby, BC and proudly acted as his own general contractor. His formerly supportive fellow merchants slowly turned from cool and humorous to bitterly envious, and the construction of his dream home spanned three frustrating years.
2. If this October, this must be Aruba – For 9 straight months, the new jet-set roamed the world until they could no longer stand hotel life, rented cars and restaurant food. They returned home exhausted, longing for stability and beds they could call their own.
3. We are family, I have all my brothers and me – Half a million dollars made the dollar complain at a “relative level” of his immediate family for about six months. When tax fandom reached its zenith and distant relatives began to pile in, he removed the genealogy pin and erected an electronic moat around his castle.
4. A plethora of plastic people – self-interested service by big tip seekers is not nearly as satisfying as being reciprocally engaged with parties genuinely interested in each other. It seemed to him that money contaminated every interaction.
5. dream the impossible dream – Dollar Doug soon learned that there is a big difference between living our dreams and planting them. As soon as he had performed the few dozen activities he could think of, his life became empty and meaningless for lack of contrast between his needs and desires.

The green green grass of home

Loaded Larry told me he was going to come home, buy an old truck, and get back to the locksmith business he once enjoyed. He found it almost unbelievable that he had traveled so far to get back to where he started and his prolonged verbal contemplation of disdain for instant wealth seekers had a profound effect on me.

The advice Walt passed on to me was that life is not about how much loot we accumulate, but about using our own abilities and then using them as hard as we can with all the passion we can muster.

I figure if a person can do this without getting mad or kicking too bad there should be nothing to fear.

Thanks my friend.

barry williams