"For the Sake of "It"
Twenty something years ago, I made my first foray into the world of selling precious metals. Going into it, I admit I had cast a jaundiced eye upon the field. I had many good reasons to do so, but more on that next time, probably in a future post.
For now, what I’m simply going to tell you is much closer to a true Short Story than a piece of Flash Fiction. It’s about an encounter I had with a new prospect. I don’t remember his name, so let’s just call him Jim. That’s okay because what lies within this story is a takeaway; and once uncovered, it’s up to you to decide what to do with it.
When Jim called, inquiring about purchasing gold. And after we talked about the state of affairs of our country, the world, the precious metals markets, and life. Our talk took a bizarre, subtle twist. The conversation took a dialectical turn onto the road of reason.
Jim talked about his divorce, which occurred some five years prior to our conversation. He mentioned how he had lost everything. The house, furnishings, car, retirement account, savings, friends, and more. Yet, as he continued down that track, I felt something was amiss.
His attitude, the way he expressed himself, was light, jovial; incongruent with the evocations of what we should have felt within the confines of a short, sad story. Initially, I thought maybe he was just glad to get his troubles behind him. No, it was more than that, so I just had to ask.
“Jim, what you went through would have devastated most people! How do you stay so upbeat?”
His reply was elegant.
“When I was a young man and had only recently left home, my father gave me some sage advice.”
“And”, I asked.
“He said ‘Buy gold; for the rest of your life, regularly, take physical delivery, sell only when you absolutely have to; and don’t tell anybody! So I took his advice. “
“That’s it,”
“Pretty much,” said Jim
“So how’d that work out for you?”
“After losing everything; well, almost everything, I went to my stash. Over the years I had accumulated over four-hundred thousand dollars’ worth in gold…”
I then offered him a job.