Homeless: Can you build a life from $25?

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0211/p13s02-wmgn.html

This article really put a smile on my face - I think Adam Shepard is now my personal favorite hero.

It feels good to know how anti-Americans and anti-capitalists (not to make this a political issue) all around the world are cringing to the thought of the American dream actually still being alive.

Dang, I love that place. Only in America.

 

That is a great story.

It's making me think about a possible situation I'm in right now, and just going for it.

 

And the bachelor's degree didn't help him at all.

Yeah riiiight!

The moon is also made out of cheese.

 

+1!

I don't care what he sais and with a bachelor I know you get tons of knowledge throughout the years that eventually gets handy in the real life. And a credit card? He should have clipped it before setting off to this "journey".

Somehow I'm thinking this was nothing else than a brilliant book idea all along... "Don't sell dope, sell hope!"

 

Whenever I see anything like this, I always think about the The Pursuit of Happyness

I am not a big Will Smith fan per se, but if you haven't watched this movie, you need to. If you have ever had to work to achieve something without a safety net, or fallen and had to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, it will serve as an inspiration.

For those whose biggest disappointment in life was daddy giving you an SLK350 instead of a 55, you might not get it.

 

LOL.

Very true. He may not have used it, however, his family life, the way he was raised, etc all played a role in his mentallity.

 

The book he refered to, "Nickeled and Dimed" was the most worthless book i've ever bought.

 

He got a job as a mover, didn't invest his cash (simply opened a savings account and put money in it), and never used the credit card, it was there as an emergency backup.

What did he do that those of us without bachelor degrees couldn't do exactly?

Bill

 

I don't see how it would. This is a story of hard work and sacrifice, in order to achieve in life what you wish. bachelor or no bachelor, hard work is something we are all able to commit ourselves to.

 

I've seen an interview with that guy, and I was simply awe-inspired. The guy UNDERSTANDS life and what it throws at you.

This is a guy that should be speaking at NAACP meetings to get that organization back on track instead of the racist spewing preacher. Although he's probably considered a "sell out" by his black counterparts just like they like to say about Bill Cosby.

 

Gardner makes a healthy living from public speaking engagements. My dad's bank had him speak at one of their yearly meetings about the time the movie came out.

 

It certainly seems some groups are more successful at the "pulling oneself up by the bootstraps" than others.

From my viewpoint it seems penniless Asians are able to work their way up to fish boat owners, restaurants and nail salons in a few years and make a fine life for their families.

AND THEN, they seem to seek the best education for their kids; these should be the role models.

I realize there is often extended family that helps the assimilation, but not always.

 

It's truly a pity if you don't see how it helped him. TexasF355F1 nail it.

This guy had FAR more knowledge and wisdom about things than REAL poor people do. And those who truly work hard are usually also those who have the smallest income and never ever make it out of there to get a somewhat decent life.

Adam Shepard is a posteur and a fake.

 

BTW, the book is a decent read and is much more complete than the movie. Frankly, I didn't like the movie because it glossed over many important things about his development (and made him much more of a saint than reality - ie. the mother of his kid who leaves him was actually his mistress for whom he left his first wife, and IIRC the mother was also a grad school student and not a laundry worker).

Nickeled and Dimed was a dumb book though, and I was surprised that Barbara Erenrich (sp) so openly admitted her habit of smoking weed.

 

The U.S. is full of people that dont even have a high school education, and would be considered successful anywhere. I put very little weight on a Bachelors Degree as an indicator for success. Hell, the lady that cuts my hair has a BS from a state college.

 

Id have to agree with those that say what this kid accomplished isnt a big deal when he had the mental safety net of a solid life underneath him.

Hell my story is way better than this kids and I know others with stories way better than mine !

 

I'd also like to mention that this kid started from nothing and worked up.

Those in the lower middle class, or flat out poor (I exist in there somewhere) rarely ever find themselves at nothing.

I made some poor choices after college, started a business doing my passion (racing) that though it went well for the first few years didnt flourish. Now I have dept, as does my fiance from her own poor choices.
I work very very hard to pay off my dept and get myself back to the neutral so I can again start to make a life for myself and someday get back into amature racing.

 

Successful compared to who?

 

It's not only in US, many nations wealthiest people have started with (almost) nothing. Bachelor degree won't make you rich but in most cases make you better equipped if you don't have "all that" in you, much better than before you started taking the degree.

I agree, it's not a indicator for success. But it lays som meat on your bones.

 

He didn't start from nothing. He had a really good up-bringing, strong athletic background, schooling.

Yes, he gave up everything that we all take for granted. However, he didn't grow up witnessing drug dealing, killings, random shootings, rapes, broken home(s), all outside his home. The things that typically create the continual cycle of "street life". His mentality was learned as a child to be positive.

 

I'm not too impressed...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKNpsm8UmOI&NR=1

NWS - Language

 

Now imagine if all the bums on the street with no job except picking up the welfare check got off their @$$es and tried working hard.

 

Very insightful.

Mental illness? Ever hear of it?

 

hes a Ferrari driver too! lol


http://www.chrisgardnermedia.com/main/biography.htm

 

Laziness? Ever hear of it?