The American Dream

The Master Kong AKA Confucius once said, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” But this quote came before video games so it’s a little dated.

Growing up we are all asked the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I think many of us have said at one time, “I want to do very little and make a lot of money.” Most of us we think this is “The American Dream.” This vague phrase has been used to motivate people to learn spelling words, earn degrees, to give acclaim to working 40 hours a week, starting your own business and countless other circumstances. I believe our forefathers and even our fifth ones too would be rolling in their graves if they knew the types of dreams Americans have.
Well today I’m not going to tell you what it should mean to you, but rather share an experience from my own personal life in hopes to give you another perspective of “The American Dream.”

My story begins a few years ago while I was a college student at Brigham Young University. (Yeah, I also wonder how they ever let me into their school too.) This was a busy time in my life; I had school, studying, and a part-time job here and there. I woke up to an alarm went to classes, all morning took a short lunch break; studied mostly pretended to study and then around 4:00 in the afternoon I would walk home. On my way home I had to pass by a Little Caesars pizzeria. Many times as I passed by this establishment there would be a kid about my age standing in front holding a sign that said, “5 dollar hot n’ready pizza.” (Perhaps you have been lucky enough to see a Little Caesars sign holder.) But, there was something else that caught my eye about this sign holder. This guy was doing job that many of us would deem, “A dead-end Job.” I don’t think too many sign holders are making their way up the corporate ladder. But, this isn’t the point. As I walked by this guy on almost on a weekday basis, he always brought his A game to the table. He was out there in the heat, the cold, Tsunami didn’t matter he was there. He always had his headphones on and for most of the time dancing to whatever beats that were thumping in his head. Many of us drove or walked by and thought to ourselves, if only he had an education or, some type of technical degree then he wouldn’t have to suffer through this humiliating job. Many may argue that Confucius statement about choosing a job you’ll love and you’ll never work a day can’t apply to him. I ask why not? If you saw the smile on his face you’d think he was paying Caesar to hold his sign for him. Hasn’t he accomplished one of highest steps in Maslow Hierarchy of Needs? Self-esteem. Being comfortable enough in his own skin to dance by himself on a busy street corner; shoot, I can’t even go to the movies by myself; in fear of what if someone sees me, and I'm by myself!

Mr. Dancing sign holder, I’ll never know his name. But, he taught me a valuable lesson, about the American Dream. We live in a free nation where we can pursue jobs, careers, hobbies, develop talents that bring us joy. This freedom to pursuit of happiness is the “The American Dream.”

It’s hard to argue that this dude isn’t loving his job.