Judging a book by it’s cover can be rather embarrassing at times.
- I work at a coffee shop, and I work the opening shift myself every morning.
You’d think that we would be slammed early in the day, but this is not the case at all. Coffee is so trendy right now that breakfast time is the slowest time of day for our store. There is one guy though, who is there every morning. He comes in, uses our bathroom to wash up, and then gets coffee and a snack, every day like clockwork. He always drives this big HVAC work van, and I came to realize that he lived in that van. One morning I asked him about how he can own his HVAC business and still not have a place to live. He told me the most wonderful story, and explained how this HVAC business was the foundation for the rest of his life. He was an immigrant, and needed to save up enough money to bring the rest of his family here, so 100% of the HVAC profits were going towards that. By living in the HVAC van he saved thousands of dollars on rent and utilities, and his dream was getting closer every day. Over time he would bring in his family, get a nice place to live, and turn the HVAC mobile service into a storefront, that he would be able to pass down to his kids. This struggling HVAC guy is a tribute to American exceptionalism, and I always give him a free coffee now out of respect.