The Mexican and the American Businessman
Fish
I’ve always loved this little story about the Mexican and the American businessman. It’s just about sums up a lot of what I feel about life, work, existence, etc., etc., Someone once sent this to me in an email and I lost it, but then I found it again on someone’s site (I can’t remember whose) and I downloaded and saved it. I then started up WorkingShirt as a blog after I “retired” from web design and thought I’d post it here where more people could read it. I thought the best place for it was in my online magazine. Here it is, the story about the American businessman and the Mexican, for you to ponder.
An American businessman was standing at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow-fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish.
“How long it took you to catch them?” The American asked.
“Only a little while.” The Mexican replied.
“Why don’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?” The American then asked.
“I have enough to support my family’s immediate needs.” The Mexican said.
“But,” The American then asked, “What do you do with the rest of your time?”
The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life, senor.”
The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds you buy a bigger boat, and with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.”
“Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the consumers, eventually opening your own can factory. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City where you will run your expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But senor, how long will this all take?”
To which the American replied, “15-20 years.”
“But what then, senor?”
The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO (Initial Public Offering) and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”
“Millions, senor? Then what?”
The American said slowly, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos…”
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Don’t waste your time or money First of all you have the website wrong you mseepillsd wiener (the correct spelling wiener not weiner).Senor Wiener is a joke, they advertise a Chicago Style Hot Dog they wouldn’t know a Chicago style hot dog if it came up and bit them where the good Lord split them. A Chicago style hot dog is a Vienna Beef hot dog On a fresh steamed poppy seed bun with Plochmans yellow mustard, bright green relish, chopped onion, dill pickle spear or cucumber slices, one sport pepper, tomato all topped off with celery salt. If you can eat two you know you have had a meal.These clowns give you a puny hotdog in your choice of boiled, fried or grilled which by the way are sitting in metal pans on a steam table (I watched the cashier pick up and handle two or three hotdogs with her gloved hand and then drop them back in the pan-apparently she couldn’t figure out which one was fried or grilled) then you progress down their condiment line where you’re charged $.25 to $.50 for each condiment you want to put on your bare hotdog.The staff is a bunch of idiots and in my opinion rude; if you change your mind they look at you with a disgusting look on their face. Don’t even get me started on their website, it’s incomplete with broken links and I have no idea what Peppermint Peckers, Penis Pasta, Boob Pasta, Party Sheep, Boner Bear (Apparently a Panda Bear with an Erection) Etc. Etc. has to do with running a successful fast food franchise or a Chicago style hot dog. These guys will be out of business by New Year’s