Or is it?
The American Dream
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 yellowfin 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 NYC 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..."
From another forum: Great story, except they left out the end of the story.
You know, that part where fisherman ends up becoming a bankrupt beggar without a roof above his head because he chose to spend his days fucking around.
Soon after the Harvard grad left, the government came in and told the fisherman that he can no longer fish at his favorite lake because he couldn't afford to pay for the lake license.
Additionally, he could no longer afford to insure, certify, and license his boat which is soon after became mandated by the state. Unable to pay the fees for legal operation, insurance, licensing, docking fees, the Mexican fisherman stopped fishing.
But it gets worse.
He then loses his boat to a mechanics lien-- he ultimately fails to pay the slip-fees to the dock master for harboring his boat.
Lake license? Are you retarded?
Seeing as he fishes in the ocean, hence the word "coastal", and that tuna don't live in lakes, I don't think your argument holds up very well amigo.
reminds me of prestigious pete
It? Hahaha.
There is a middle ground...
Exactly what I think every time I read this joke
And you can also do a lot more than just "sleep late, fish a little, etc etc......" There will be a lot more choices in life, unlike the Mexican who is stuck with doing this forever
They have this up on the wall at the Jimmy Johns I go to
I don't get the joke. In one scenario, you've created legacy wealth for your family. The other, not.
You know what sucks?
Fishing.
not in the same category really but ever go big game sportfishing (for marlin etc)? now that's fun
Do you know how I know you're not Dick Fuld. Because: A) Only poor people don't like fishing (especially fly fishing) B) speaking of fly fishing, you live in Idaho... what the hell else is there to do?
TLDR: Fly fishing is the shit, unless you're one of them city folk that doesn't know what nature looks like, in which case you are a severely maldeveloped human being.
Great story, although the only problem is that when he retires he can live a life that's significantly better than before. If he wanted to fish a little he could buy a yacht, if he wanted to play with his kids could buy expensive 'toys', etc. Nevertheless still a great read.
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