THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PEOPLE...IT'S ALL IN HOW YOU SEE IT!
An American businessman was by the waterfront piers of Castellammare del Golfo, a small fishing village in Northwestern Sicily, when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large tuna. The American approached him and complimented the fisherman on the size and quality of his fish and asked how long it took for him to catch them. The Sicilian replied that it only took a few hours. The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish. The fisherman said he had enough to support his family's needs and desires.
The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"
The Sicilian replied, "I like to sleep late, maybe fish a little, play with my children, enjoy my wife Maria, stroll into the village each evening, and then stop into my favorite little cafe, where I sip some wine and play my mandolino with my amicos…I have a very full and busy life, Signore.”
The American scoffed at the Sicilian’s answer. "I am a Wharton MBA and I really could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the profits from the bigger boat you could buy several more boats. Eventually you would have a large fleet of fishing boats. Then, instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor. You would eventually be able to open your own cannery. You would control the product, the processing, and the distribution.
But you would need to leave this small village and move up to the City of Rome, then onto the United States, where you would eventually relocate to New York City, which would allow you will run your expanding enterprise."
The Sicilian fisherman asked, "But how long would all this take?"
To which the American replied, “About 15 to 20 years."
“And then what?,” inquired the Sicilian.
The American laughed sarcastically and then commented, “Well, you see, that's the very best part. When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your entire company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions of dollars.”
"Millions of dollars? Then what?,” asked the Sicilian.
The American, incredulous of the Sicilian's ignorance, then said, "Then you could retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you could sleep late, maybe fish a little, play with your kids, have fun with your wife, stroll into the village in the evenings, find a nice little cafe, and sip wine and play your mandolin with your friends to your hearts desire." -
It's a beautiful light breezy and sunny day in New York. I'm looking forward to it. Hope everybody enjoys their day as well.
