The Wealthiest Man on Earth (6 pages)

This short story is about how wealth is not a measure material possessions or money but one' s level of happiness.

Intro

Venice Beach

The sky is just beginning to lighten as the sun’s rays peek over the San Bernardino mountains.

A homeless man (Mike) sits next to a fire pit where a small smoldering fire pops and crackles sending embers into the morning sky.

A man walks by and Mike offers him a cup of coffee. Reluctantly he accepts the offer. Mike pokes a stick into the fire and pulls out an old army canteen by its chain. He grabs the canteen with a rag as not burn himself and pours it into a paper cup and hands it to the man who accepted his offer. There is a fish on a stick roasting over the fire.

“Life doesn’t get any better than this,” Mike exclaims then continues, “In fact I’m the wealthiest man on earth”.

5 Years Before.

Middle aged lawyer (Mike) is in an office speaking with a colleague.

“This is not right.”

“You’re a lawyer, it doesn’t matter what’s right. What matters is where the money’s coming from.”

“This could put them out of business!”

“Are you developing a conscience?” the colleague questions while continuing, “you’ve worked too hard and come too far to be developing a conscience. For a lawyer that’s career suicide.”

“We’re talking about a Mom and Pop pizza shop. They’ve worked at this business most of their lives and just because some child spilled his milkshake on the floor and our careless client was not watching where she was walking, the owners of this business have to suffer.”

“What’s the big deal? They should have insurance to cover it.”

“Who did the wrong deed here? the child that spilled the milkshake? The owners of the pizza shop? No… it was the carelessness of our client who’s just after a quick buck.”

“You know that, and I know that, but if there’s money to be made it’s going to come from the owner’s insurance company.”

And then what? Thier premiums go up, or worse, they may be denied insurance all together… for what? trying to make an honest living?”

“You’re in the wrong profession if you’re going to pity the defendants.”

“Perhaps I am.”

1 Year Later

Mike is now the defendant in a divorce count. The judge states:

“As an attorney this should be no surprise to you that in the state of California in a divorce proceeding, the total estate is liquidated and divided evenly. To compound the issues you were a very successful attorney and provided your spouse with a certain standard of living. Had you not walked out on your job you would still be living in that standard. Because of this I am awarding her with not only the expected 50% granted to her by law but an additional 50% of the remainder as a punishment for neglecting your duties to the profession. To the defendant I award $250,000 and the remaining $750,000 goes to the plaintiff. This case is closed.”

Back on the Beach

“I’m just glad that our children were out of the picture by that time.” Mike tells the man, “Their mother still has such an influence over them that they won’t have anything to do with me.”

“After the trial” Mike continues, “ no law firm would have anything to do with me and that was fine by me because I just couldn’t continue a job where I had to inflict pain to undeserving people. I worked at many jobs at the same time and what little I was able to make was not enough to cover the car the apartment and the other little expenses that came with having a household.

In the layover between jobs, the divorce, and legal fees the remaining money from my former estate was dropping fast. I was able to get a steady job at as a “used car” salesman, but believe me when I tell you, I’m no salesman. Selling cars in this economy is tough. People only want new cars so they are guaranteed a trouble free ride. Who can blame them.”  

Scene as a Used Car Salesman.

A young couple looks over a car.

“Good morning. I see you’re interested in the Buick.”

“Yes,” they reply while walking around the car, “our truck is on its last leg and with a baby on the way we’ll be needing more room.”

Concerned about the couple’s well being, the salesman suggests the Toyota. “We have a great little car over here with a lot of life left in it,” Mike mentions while pointing to the Toyota.

“Well, that car is a little out of our price range.”

“I don’t want to come on as being pushy but the Buick has maybe 50,000 miles left and the Toyota is good for 175,000. You’re more than welcome to go with the Buick but miles for the dollar I think the Toyota is your best bet.”

“We’ll have to think it over.”

After the young couple left, Mike returns to his cubicle to find his disappointed supervisor.

“You let them go,didn’t you?”

“That Buick is going to leave them stranded. The Toyota is a much better choice.”

“That’s not for you to decide. Because you let them go, we lost yet another sale, and now I have to let you go.”

Back on the Beach Mike continues.

“My father was an attorney. My brothers are attorneys and they pushed me to do the same. I never liked the job even though it paid well.”

Mike shifts in his seat, “Because that was the direction appointed to me from birth, I never learned how to do anything else. I had no other skills or experience to fall back on.“

A seagull squawks as it flies overhead, “I reached the point where I was evicted from my apartment because I refused to go into my last bit of money. At the price of that apartment and keeping up the expenses of the car. I was going to run out of money in an estimated 2 years.”

“I was living in my car until one day while I was gone it was towed. I found myself walking right here to the boardwalk. My life was a mess.”

Mike removes the fish from the stick and begins to eat it while offering a bite to the man.

“For, what felt like, an eternity, I fell into a deep despair. I became nocturnal. I roamed the boardwalk at night and slept during the day. To many, I was dismissed as a sunbather. I watched and learned how others survived and I adapted.

After a week I noticed that despite the despair, I was surviving. As time went on that despair faded and survival became routine.

Unlike most homeless, I have a fully functioning brain. My life has not been overrun by drugs and alcohol. I still had/have options. I rented a locker at the train station where I store one business suit and grooming supplies. That locker is my only expense. If I need to get money from the bank I’ll be like superman and change into a different person. I haven’t had to go to the bank in over a month now.”

“How’s the coffee?”

“Good.”

He continues, “I learned quickly about survival. Air is the first thing you need, followed by water, then food, then shelter, then then a mental state of mind that come with social interaction. After a month the needs of basic survival were being met but I was always in a funk. Then I began recognising the regulars, you know the surfers, the men with the metal detectors, the lifeguards, the police and even other homeless. As they began seeing me more and more, conversations began to develop and I became accepted. Thus, the funk that I was feeling dissipated.”

The man said, “Tell me about how you overcame your basic survival needs.”

“At first I was sleeping on the park benches and under boardwalk awnings… anywhere I could get away from the falling nightly dew. It seemed that everywhere I went, the police were telling me to move on. I soon found that if I were out of sight I would be out of mind.”

Mike nods over to the buildings just beyond the boardwalk, “Notice how some of these older building are off the ground. It’s not hard to find a place where the skirt of the building will fold away and all you have to do is close it behind you. Just make sure that you have another way out in case it’s discovered while you’re under there. As an added bonus, there are hot water pipes and heater ducts that radiate heats so you stay warm as well. The trick is coming and going to make sure you’re not seen.”

“As far as food goes, restaurant close between midnight and 2 am. and like clockwork they put the remnants of food out for morning pickup. I retrieve that food and I eat quite well.”

To clean up there are public restrooms and outdoor showers.”

Mike stands up and stretches, “so… Here I am. I am surrounded by happy people. I’m near water, I’m never hungry, I have no bills to pay, no traffic to fight, and I don’t have to rush to work everyday performing a job that I don’t like for people I don’t like. I used to dread every day. Now, I look forward to every day.”

“Many people, and I was one of them, pride themselves by their status and possessions. They think they’re happy. Often, they are just fooling themselves. You need to step back and ask yourself if you’re happy. If you are, then hallelujah, but if you’re not, answer to yourself what needs to be done to make yourself happy.”

“Many people feel the need to have status and power while other take a more practical approach. Take a Hummer owner. With a Hummer you have status, a feeling of power and in very rare case, you have the ability to go off road. All of this has a price such as the costs of the vehicle, the costs of insurance, the costs of fuel, the cost of maintenance, and for what? So you can feel good about yourself thinking that others look at you in a positive light. Now take a Prius owner. There’s lower costs for everything. The only difference is your status.”

“Stop living to meet the worthless expectations of others. Live a long and happy life.”

“This is the mentality of a “hippy colony”. They give up all of their material possessions in exchange for happiness. I do not care for the image of “hippies” because they’re generally worthless, deadbeat, pot smoking, whiners, but they may have something with regards to simple living.”

“So.. tell me about your typical day.”

“Okay… Long before the sun comes up, I’ll wake up and and walk to the water. I jump through the surf long enough to get the grunge out of my clothes. I then come back and get the clothes that I hung up the day before. I walk to the public restrooms, strip and put on a dry bathing suit then take a shower in the outdoor showers. I then take the wet clothes that I just washed the grunge out of and rinse the salt off. I then go back into the restroom and change into the dry clothes that I hung up the day before. The clothes that I rinsed, I then take back and hang out to dry for the next day.

After I’ve shower and cleaned up, I walk to the pier and drop a line until a fish bites. I start a fire to roast the fish for breakfast. The coffee comes from Starbucks. They throw out a small mountain of used coffee grounds for people to put in their gardens. Sure it’s ‘used’ but from a mountain of coffee grounds it’s possible to gather a cup or two.”

The sun peeks over the mountains and long morning shadows stretch across the sand.

“So...here we are. Next I’ll go to the recycling and get yesterday's newspaper. That will keep me busy for most of the morning. As the morning fades, people that I call friends, come out and we make a day of it. If I get hungry, the donut shop throws out yesterday’s donuts and if pickings are low I can always drop a line from the pier and grab another fish.”

“How do you brew this coffee? It’s surprisingly good.”

“I put it in a sock and and let it soak all day. The next morning I put it in this canteen and place it in the fire…. Wha-la.”

Like I said, “Life is wonderful.”

The man tells Mike that he’s a journalist for the Thursday Afternoon Post and that he’d like to submit an column about him.

“Write to your heart’s content.”

A week passes and Mike picks up the paper to find the article about himself:

A Philosophy from the Wealthiest Man on Earth

Most of us hear of stories where desperate people find their path to wealth, riches and happiness, sort of a Cinderella Rags to Riches story. But are they really happy? Are people that appear to have everything their heart desires really happy in life? Do they control their material possession or do their material possessions control them? What is thier real story outside of the public light? Many will argue that a life of wealth, status, and possessions makes a happy person. For one man this is not true. This is NOT a “Rags to Riches” story but rather a “Riches to Rags” story that leads to a happy ending.

While walking along the beach early one morning, a homeless man was sitting next to a fire offered me a cup of coffee. Stunned by his offer rather than him asking me for money, I reluctantly accepted.

He then went on to say, “Life doesn’t get any better than this. In fact, I’m the wealthiest man on earth”.

This was a surprising statement coming from a homeless man. He proceeded to tell me of how he had become the wealthiest man on earth.

His description of himself was like you and me, in search of the American dream. By his birthright he became an attorney just as his brothers and his father before him. He had a nice house, nice family, nice car, and a status to be proud of. All of this came at a price. He was unhappy. He did not like having to impose pain upon undeserving people. When he decided not to do that anymore his entire life unraveled. Unskilled beyond his upbringing, he fell into a jobless state which lead to being homeless. Great despair set in while adjusting to the new lifestyle that life had dished out. After a period of adaptation, despair faded away and a trouble free lifestyle developed.

Imagine a life without working to make somebody else rich. Imagine a life where you won’t have to fight traffic every day. Imagine a life without bills. Imagine waking up whenever you want. This man’s life is just that. He recommends this life for everyone.

So what makes him the wealthiest man on earth… his happiness.

Bottom line… You never can tell where happiness will find you. When it does, accept it. If you don’t, it may pass you by.

From the wealthiest man on earth, “Life doesn’t get any better than this.”

After reading the article Mike takes the paper and uses it to start his morning fire. Soon after the fire is going a different man walks by and Mike offers him a cup of coffee. He reluctantly accepts. and Mike begins “Life doesn’t get any better than this….”

Author's Note

Thank you for reading this short story. All critiques are welcome.

Reviews

[Tina H.W.]

I forgot my hot tea while reading that. A great piece with a simple message: The best things in life are the simple things and piece of mind. Such an engaging story from start to finish, Dave. My tea is cold now but it was worth it. I really enjoyed this piece :)
Tina

[Dave Potter]

Thanks you so much for review. Dave

[Mike L Johnson]

I like the story and the message you are trying to share. There are definitely a large number of grammatical errors, but that can easily be fixed. I would like to believe I have good grammar and proofreading skills, but I ALWAYS run my work through Grammarly just to catch the little things I missed.

[Dave Potter]

Thanks for your feedback. Everybody, including my family has informed me that my grammar needs much improvement. I often do not see errors even when they are pointed out to me. If you have suggestions on ways to improve my grammar I'd appreciate it. Thanks, Dave

[Samuel Dickens]

This well-written story speaks to me in words that might have come from my own thoughts. Maybe because I grew up in poverty and learned to find value in things that cost nothing, or maybe it's just in my DNA, but I sure do like and understand Mike. I noticed several typos, but am sure you can fix them with a little editing.