Lessons While Young : Why Luck Happens

At seventeen I was going to own a warehouse.

In the building I wanted as my own, ten thousand square feet, I was kept in a small corner running my t shirt business. This was my only means of income and I got used to sleeping on the floor, only sleeping when my body absolutely needed it to assure ends met. I felt it was temporary.

Every month I would mail a check out to the owner for the eventual and hopeful ownership of the warehouse. There was never a missed dime or date when it came down to it because any inch of a mistake would mean the building wasn’t mine. To this day I have never read a contract so thoroughly. While I didn’t particularly trust the owner, he didn’t seem like a cheat.

I was wrong about that.

The day of the final payment arrived. I called and called but no one answered. I drove out to knock on his door and still nothing. By now he had absolutely gotten the check.

That evening my nerves struck up at the idea that the owner had made off with my money but eventually I fell asleep only to wake up at 3am with a suspicion; I needed to read the contact again. I poured over it again and again looking for that something to tell me what was going on and I found it.

The final payment needed to be hand delivered or else the building wasn’t mine.

I drove an hour in the night to the owner’s house where at 4am I knocked on his door. Maybe it’s because I’m viewing it now still from very similar eyes, that he was trying to cheat me, but when he took that final payment from me he looked defeated.

Any mistake made in business is put on your shoulders. I’ve been working as a contractor with Novel Remodeling for the past three years. It’s been difficult but good work. Where I will be in the next five years, I’m not sure, but right now I’m glad to work with an honest company.