The Meaning Of True Wealth

I already love that convenience store guy! Great story!

Scene one and scene two are no coincidence. I love how you bring your mother the paper ... she taught you well ... your eyes are open to the meaning of life. Wealth is only a number, relationships are priceless.

Great story, Alfred, and the gesture of the gentleman in the store is priceless. As far as the woman is concerned, perhaps she became wealthy because of the method in which she "acquires" things.

Two great stories, Alfred. Both of them remind me of people I have known. The woman reminds me of a former landlord who owned many apartment buildings in Vancouver and was wealthy. I've never known a cheaper person. I was the apartment manager for four years and he would complain about the costs of things such as having a key cut. I never saw him smile and he seemed horribly miserable and mistreated everyone he came across. If that's the cost of financial wealth, I don't want it. When he fired me in order to hire his new daughter-in-law (through marriage) and he tried to kick me out of my apartment, I discovered that he hadn't been paying me the proper amount according to the law. I ended up winning a $10,000 settlement after facing off with him and his big-name lawyer. It felt great because I represented myself but I had a whole apartment building full of people to back me up...he was claiming that I was acting as a self-appointed manager and as such shouldn't be paid! Unfortunately I could only get back pay for two of the four years but still, it felt fantastic to look at him across the table and have my say. I think I'm a frustrated lawyer at heart!

While I was living in that same apartment, I often shopped at the corner store which happened to be owned by a Chinese man. He and his wife and very young son lived in the back of the store. He worked incredibly long hours too but was always cheerful and friendly. I had the utmost respect for him and his family.

So I found your stories especially poignant and want to thank you for sharing them.

I've been around "long enough" to know and have know both of those examples. It is a true shame what wealth does to some (but not all) people.

~ Bill

Peggy, what a great story! Thank you for sharing.
The woman is very lonely with few friends. I noticed she doesn't come to the studio often but when holiday comes she would shows up.

Sometimes I wish we had "Like" buttons for the post, as I would certainly "Like" your story Alfred. :)

When one has people in their life like the people in your story, one has a rich life indeed. We all need the yin and yang of the different personalities we encounter in this world. It is much less important how wonderful or difficult THEY are than how YOU react. I can tell I would like to meet you and be your friend.

Great story!

I just spent the weekend with some old college friends. Cheap as hell. They have no kids, no pets, good salaries, live in a nice neighborhood. Neither one of the have ever really grown up out of the selfish, childhood stage where everything is about themselves. When we visit them we bring them a bottle of wine and treat them to dinner for putting us up.

When they came they talked about how they forgot a bottle of wine they intended to give us as we fed them dinner.

On our weekend trip we did all the activity planning and drove (two hours each way). We had to eat at the cheapest places because they don't care about food so a slice of pizza or plate of spaghetti is fine. We were splitting the check and and they don't drink (just water) so we had to be conscious of what we ordered so there wouldn't be any disagreement when the bill came. One time I ordered a beer and said I'd pay the tip just keep the bean counter at bay.

We had to listen to them bitch about having to pay $2 for a bottle of water. We had to listen to them moan about saving for retirement while my wife and I are getting ready for upcoming college expenses and sending our son to camp. These are people with jobs in high tech who have all the toys - three cars including a sports car, motorcycle, ride on mower, three pinball machines, pool table, wood working workshop etc etc.

As they say Edward, thats why the rich have money.

Both great stories!

Dear Kevin, I will be honor be your friend may we one day meet in person.

I love your stories, Alfred. I also love the way you look at life. You never come in here and complain about anything. Even if it's a story with some bad stuff in it (like the time you got attacked), you just tell it, you don't whine about your circumstances.

The rest of us can take a lesson on how to view life. I will go home from work this weekend and try to be kind to everyone I meet. I will stop complaining now about the "tech" problems I've had at work all week. In a couple of hours, they will just be memories anyway.

My wife is from the Philippines and regularly talks to her relatives. A few months ago she told me that a woman in her home town had been killed in a vehicle accident. The family was very poor and the husband was on the road all the time trying to earn a living. The 12 year old twins they had were in danger of not being able to attend school and faced a very bleak future. We don't have a lot but we have enough to share. With the fathers permission we moved the twins into my mother-in -laws house. I paid their tuition, bought them school uniforms and supplies, had their eyes checked at the optometrist and had their teeth fixed (they had never been to a dentist). I also agreed to pay all their monthly expenses until they finish school at 18. When I talk to them on Skype I feel like a million bucks, seeing how happy and healthy they are. One of the girls said she could hardly concentrate in school sometimes because she was so happy at their fortuitous turn of events. Nice thread Alfred, I know exactly the meaning of true wealth.

Edward, I know people like yous friends as well.often I find people with less are far more generous than the ones have more.
Mary, my mother told me some of her experience in China when she was young which helps me appreciate what I have and how to look at life.
Andrew, I am honored you share your story with us! Thank you for sharing your wealth with the ones whom needed the most!

Alfred, had you ever live in China? I grow up in Vietnam for my first 20-years. I consider myselve very lucky since I moved to this country. I went through college,
have 2-beautiful daughters, have a very good job and still thinking I am poor until my sister To-Lan was here for our Embroidery Art shows and helping with my husband illness for about a year. There are so many sad stories that she told me abount my friends, neighbors, our families still living in VN. There are lot of sad stories in this world, I should learn to be happy instead of complaining! Nice thread Alfred! Every time I see a homeless person on the street I felt very sad and keep thinking is how lucky I am, and tell myselve just put yourselve in that person shoes and quit complaining.

Thanks, To-Tam

Nice experiences. And I bet it made you feel like a million bucks!

I had a conversation with an in-law some years back. He's really big with investing money. I had used the word "investment" in relation to someone making a purchase for his enjoyment. My in-law was very upset and insisted that investment is a term used for money. I tried to explain to him that the return on some sum of money isn't always a financial return. He didn't get it.

Tam, I was born in Hong Kong before it was return to China. My mother did not tell me all of her sad life stories until I became adult.Almost everyone I met from the third world country has their own heart breaking story.

This week tragedy hit a family in my home town. It is a small community but it has the biggest heart. Last Monday the family was barbecuing at their home. Somehow the grill caught on fire, and the wind was really blowing, the house caught on fire and burned to the ground. They lost two children to the fire, the husband and one child were flown to a burn center in Salt Lake City. The mother and two of the children were being treated at the local hospital. It is amazing how people are gathering around this family and raising money to help them. It is time like these when I am heartened by the human capacity to reach out and help anyway they can. A little can go a long, long way.

People are like that where I live too, Sydne. At any given time it seems there are people being helped one way or another by the communities that dot the coast here. It's very reassuring to think that if you ever got into serious trouble, there would be people to help you.

A fine story to share Alfred.
By your definition, I consider myself to be very wealthy.. I have no money or material possessions, but I am surrounded by love. Maybe if your lottery ticket is a winner you can show some compassion for the wealthy lady from scene one and buy her some frames and picture hooks... sometimes all it takes is a selfless act like this to change someones attitude towards life (but I wouldn't hold my breath in her case)

Peggy.... there is an old saying.. "A person who represents their self in court has a fool for a lawyer"... You seem to have proved this wrong. Well done! a great victory.