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Fulcrum525 · #1 11-06-2008, 08:30 AM

Part One.

Alright. This post have been a long time in the making I just needed the motivation to write it. Its the story of my life and how messed up it has become over the past few years. I'm going to be admitting a few things that I've kept quiet on the forum so far (age for example) I'm probably going to be criticized for being so stupid but at this point, nothing can hurt me any further. In order to understand the outcome, you need to understand a little bit about my past. Otherwise just jump to the bottom and I'll sum it up for you. I know this is long, but I have been bottling it up for a long time.

I've never been the most popular person in the world and over the years I've been quite the loner. However in an ironic twist this has given me certain strengths in my personality. My patience can be measured in years and I've developed one heck of a work ethic. I'm also not a whiner; one thing that always annoys me is people going into the bosses office on Fridays and constantly asking for their check. My train of thought is, when I get it, I get it, so be patient. Also I'm a saver not a spender. Home life has always been good, I've learned a lot of things from my parents. One of the most important is being self sufficient. We have never hired anyone to do anything at our house. We work our own garden, fix any appliances that break, fix the cars ourselves, mow our own lawn etc etc. For this I am grateful to be who I am. I bought and pay for my own car (See sig )and I would never let my parents pay for my education.

After high school I went straight into college whilst continuing to worked part time at *sigh* Dunkin Donuts and doing some other sidework installing home theater systems. Now even though it was a crappy "First job" (I had been doing odd jobs on the side for years before D&D) I still worked very hard at it. On a normally night shift I wouldn't hold still, I was always stocking or cleaning something. My older brother had worked there before and was the same way. I wasn't afraid of getting fired, the managers were afraid of me quitting. After serving a few too many coffees I decided that it was time to expand my experience base so I went through my local classifieds to see what was available. Low and behold there was a sales position opening at a Land Rover dealership. I'd wanted a Discovery for years and already knew quite a bit about the company. I went in for the interview and the next day they called me saying that I go the job! Boy was I excited....but it didn't last, the next week I got two letters, the first explaining the training that I would be going through etc etc and the next day another letter from "Human Resources" regretfully telling me that I couldn't be hired because I was "Under 21" and wouldn't be covered under their insurance (I was 19 at the time) Boy was I bummed out...... So back to the classifieds I went, the only thing I could find this time was the Uber embarrassing life of selling Cutco knives. I went through the stupid 3 day training and I could see right through all the BS "Your going to be making all kinds of money!......one customer can get you 10 more customers!.....ours knives are the best in the world!....." Right, you can't fool me. The twist came in that I only set one appointment, with my old manager from Dunkin Donuts, who had moved onto other things a year before I left. Knowing of my work ethic and liking my sales pitch, he said "Come in on Monday for an interview." So Cutco was thankfully out of the picture (At least I got a set of knives at 50% off)

Monday came and I met the person who I will refer to in the rest of this tale as "the jackass". I was told that he was in charge and he went over the job with me which was on the road sales for credit card processing.
{To any business owners-Yes I know we suck, I hate the idea too but it was something I had to learn over time like everyone else. Not much we can do about Visa/Mastercard/AMEX regulations}

The premise is simple, we would offer lower rates/services to small and medium business owners and I would have 3 to 5 appointments a day. Throughout the training the consensus was that "I was too honest and would never sell anything" Imagine their shock when in my first month I had the 2nd highest number of sales. Gee, don't lie to the customers and don't pressure them into making a decision, is that such a hard concept for salesmen to grasp? 95% of the people that signed up are still with the company. The bonus for that month was a trip to Vegas and I flat out told them that if I won it I would take the cash value of the tickets....I know, I'm weird. Its better then that, for a week I wasn't on the road because one of managers crashed his car and I had to drive him around for that week. I was a field rep for around 7 months starting in June. However because of who I am, when I came into the office and saw something that needed to be done, I would just do it (Take the trash out, fix a door, build a desk etc) This eventually caught the eye of "The Jackass" and when the Christmas party came he asked for me to be his driver for the night because I don't drink. That was pretty much where it all started. I didn't mind doing work on the side. I'm always looking towards the future and will work hard today in order to make tomorrow better for myself. After that party I started working less on the road and more in the office to the point that I no longer worked the road. This was this first time it had happened since most field reps are "job hopping commission junkies" Normally they wouldn't last more then 4 months. During this time in the office I did a lot of computer work and learned to do what I still do to this day which is manage the data that we use for our sales leads. At the same time "The Jackass" was having me do things at his house, making bank runs for the company, along with dozens of other tasks. Eventually I was spending so much extra time (Not getting paid extra mind you) doing odd jobs at his house that the question was presented about me becoming a personal live in assistant/driver. He was in the process of building an addition on his new house and would have a room for me. Of course being a loyal hard working employee I accepted.

Now at this point I should explain that "The Jackass" is my polar opposite. Every principle and moral that I adhere to, he breaks. I will not insult a woman, he does it daily(including to his wife). I'm a saver, he's a spender. His music tastes would be described as "gangster", I listen to classical. I don't drink, he's a horse. He likes bling, I go for Mercedes style reserved elegance. I avoid clubs and parties, he goes all the time.
But again one of my strengths comes through in that I can be totally professional even under adverse conditions. I remember one particular street party in Hartford one night where he was drunk and about to get into a fight. I had just pulled the car up, saw what was going on, got out, grabbed him and threw him into the car and drove off. No questions, no orders, it just needed to be done.

Alright so as the addition was being built I continued to work for the company and doing those odd side jobs as well. The salary was good and the office environment wasn't too bad. I had my desk in one of the nicer offices with someone who could be a clown and had good jokes all the time (He's still my "manager") At this point the company had started to transition from pure processing to cash advance. A 2nd larger office was opened down the road from the original to facilitate this. The returns on these advances are quite high and that will come into play later. So after a full year of construction the addition was finally in livable condition. In April of 2007 I moved into my little area within the house. It was one decent sized bedroom, bathroom with shower, and a living room/kitchen. However the kitchen wasn't finished at all, there was only a refrigerator. I was told that it would be finished within a few months. Also the hot water to my area wasn't turned on for about 5 months, so at least I'm no longer afraid of cold showers. Now while living there I had several strict rules that I made for myself, the #1 being "This is their house, I cannot intrude on their lives at all" The simple explanation being, if they don't need me, I won't bother them. So for the most part, I stayed in my little area. While I was there I continued to work in the office daily but I no longer had to commute 30 minutes to their house and then 30 back to mine every time something needed doing. Also there was talk of opening a 3rd office in NJ so my skills as a driver would have been needed even more. During this time work continues on the house, the backyard was being improved and the driveway was not yet paved but at least I had a garage space for my baby. Also around this time he decided to get (another) new car he said he was having cash flow problems and asked if I could lend him $10,000 promising 20% within a few weeks. I agreed and the next day there was a brand new Bentley Continental GT in the garage (Which, BTW is a crappy car) Sure enough a few weeks later I had a $12,000 check. Also at this time I enrolled in a boating class so I could captain the 35 (40?) foot boat that he had just bought.

Flash forward to June and "The jackass" asks me if I'd be interested in investing in the cash advance program. The payback would be 20% over 6 months (Anyone who knows cash advance knows that this is well within the realm of possibility and one could actually get more) Thinking about the future, I agreed. My goals are always long term, and I want a 10 or 15 year mortgage when I buy my first house (No ridiculous interest payments for me)........