Strange Investment Satisfaction

An Angry Boss, A Tough Job, and Lunch

Everyone has had a job they have hated, and not necessarily because the job itself was terrible, but because of the person in charge. Some on our team have vivid memories of such a job, especially our team member Timothy. We will let Timothy take over from here:

Many years back, I was a roofer. I worked for this short, rotund, angry guy with a thick New York accent. He would yell and scream at the top of his lungs as we worked through the tough summers, and he would always threaten: “If yous guys don’t move any faster, then you’ll be in the unemployment line!” I think he considered it motivational, but everyone else just called him names behind his back.

He had a small group of favorites that had been with him from the beginning, but anyone outside of that group was hazed indefinitely. After a year and a half you would think that many of the others would be included, but instead we weren’t, and this common ground led us to form a group of our own. Lunch time was always a bit awkward with no one talking except the “in-crowd” and they would always order a lot of the same things.

How An Investment Saved My Sanity

What on Earth does this have to do with investments? One thing that all of these guys had in common is that they would suck down Coca Cola (KO) products like it was their life support, and this brought a strange satisfaction to me. Why? I was, and I still am, a shareholder in Coca Cola, and with each little sip, I could hear pennies, nickels, and dimes falling into my pockets. What these guys didn’t know is that the college guy across from them wasn’t just a roof grunt; I had a voracious appetite for investments and mathematics.

They eventually discovered this and would tease me about it because here is this “educated” guy working for them, but what they didn’t know is that they were my paying customers! So, each lunch time, I would listen to the stories, and enjoy watching them transfer a bit of their wealth to me one sip at a time. I enjoyed knowing that as they mocked the rest of us on the roof, they too were sweating to earn their money, and spending it on a product that I received compensation from. And with each paycheck I received and invested, they gave me more.

Investments and The Aftermath

This idea and perspective turns the employer-employee relationship on its head. Were these guys working for me? No, I was not their “boss,” but their spending habits advantaged me. They were getting their paychecks and giving little bits of it to me. Indirectly, they were paying me, and that made those years on the roof much more bearable. I find solace in knowing that even today they are probably still handing me their money. That is, as long as they are still in business after the housing crash.

I sure hope they are still in business, and I sure hope they are still enjoying our delicious products. It’s devoted customers like them that allow me to enjoy the dividends that I receive quarterly. After 2 years, I decided that I couldn’t be a roofer for the rest of my life and went to college full-time. I now enjoy a much better quality of life and continue to pursue financial freedom through passive income investment. Cheers to investments, different perspectives, and jobs that we hate.