Life With Charlie, Explained...
A parable
Elaine and I live in a tiny little village in the middle of nowhere and have been retired for 20 years. Last summer, I had a really good crop of peaches. I had more than we could use so put a couple bushels of them out front to sell. Some guy pulled up in the driveway and mentioned how nice they looked and asked how long it took me to pick them.
“Oh, a couple of hours”, I said. “But then, why didn’t you just pick some more”, he asked.
I explained that we had all we needed for the year.
He then asked me, "what do you do when your not picking peaches?"
"I sleep late, do a little fishing, play games with the children, and take a nap every day with my wife. In the evenings, I go into town to see my friends, have a few drinks, play some pool, and then come home and watch a little football.
Then the guy interupted and said, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by picking more peaches every day. You can then sell all of the extras. With the extra income, you can buy more trees. Then, with the extra income the trees will bring, you can buy another acre of land and plant more trees. Instead of selling your peaches out by the road, you can negotiate directly with the grocery stores and maybe open your own store. Then, you could leave this tiny town and move to Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can manage your huge enterprise." "How long would that take?" I asked. "Oh, Twenty, maybe twenty-five years," he replied. "And then what, I asked?"
"Afterwards? That's when it gets really interesting," he answered, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!"
"Millions? Really? And after that?" "After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny little village in the middle of nowhere, sleep late, play games with the children, take a nap every day with your wife, go into town in the evening and see your friends. Maybe have a few drinks, play some pool, and then come home and watch a little football.
Source: can’t remember
Elaine and I live in a tiny little village in the middle of nowhere and have been retired for 20 years. Last summer, I had a really good crop of peaches. I had more than we could use so put a couple bushels of them out front to sell. Some guy pulled up in the driveway and mentioned how nice they looked and asked how long it took me to pick them.
“Oh, a couple of hours”, I said. “But then, why didn’t you just pick some more”, he asked.
I explained that we had all we needed for the year.
He then asked me, "what do you do when your not picking peaches?"
"I sleep late, do a little fishing, play games with the children, and take a nap every day with my wife. In the evenings, I go into town to see my friends, have a few drinks, play some pool, and then come home and watch a little football.
Then the guy interupted and said, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by picking more peaches every day. You can then sell all of the extras. With the extra income, you can buy more trees. Then, with the extra income the trees will bring, you can buy another acre of land and plant more trees. Instead of selling your peaches out by the road, you can negotiate directly with the grocery stores and maybe open your own store. Then, you could leave this tiny town and move to Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can manage your huge enterprise." "How long would that take?" I asked. "Oh, Twenty, maybe twenty-five years," he replied. "And then what, I asked?"
"Afterwards? That's when it gets really interesting," he answered, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!"
"Millions? Really? And after that?" "After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny little village in the middle of nowhere, sleep late, play games with the children, take a nap every day with your wife, go into town in the evening and see your friends. Maybe have a few drinks, play some pool, and then come home and watch a little football.
Source: can’t remember
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