Is the Job for You?

While I was home last week,
I got dragged to a business meeting of sorts at a friend's house.
He gathered a few of us, his friends, to join a money making opportunity.
Two guys in professional looking polo shirts came in
and told us about this well established company that we've never heard of - and that you won't hear of from me cause I haven't decided how I feel about them yet.
The company basically works like a pyramid scheme.
One of the guys kept repeating it wasn't a pyramid scheme,
but if you have to say it at all, it probably is a pyramid scheme.

But I will say, this scheme seemed to work.
Even Donald Trump backed it;
he's used the company in Celebrity Apprentice twice
and he was even in their little infomercial we were shown.

The main way to succeed in this company is networking:
you have to be able to recruit people to join the company
and make sells yourself to see the big bucks.
But if you succeed, you really succeed.
Or at least that's the image the two young black men portrayed
to the rest of the black guys in the room from different parts of the hood.
You work for yourself; you get what you put in; you get paid.

Even close to a week later, I'm unsure of how legit their system is.
There was only one thing I was sure of: it wasn't for me.
The job required persuasion skills, of which I have next to none - at least in person.
It wouldn't be worth my time or money (the buy-in was a smooth $500).
I'm a writer, not a small business owner.
There would be no passion in my occupation
and I would hate every day of it, even with the money I'd be raking in.
That's the kind of guy I am.
If I wanted to make money or have a steady job,
I would have studied accounting in college.

As we leave the world of formal education,
we will all be faced with different opportunities and positions,
and it is up to us and only us to establish which will be the best fit.
A bashful Biology major isn't going to take a sportscasting job.
The practical, ambitious money maker won't audition for a role at a small theatre.

Of course, they are times when we're at a crossroads in life
and have no idea what we should do next.
For us 20-somethings, and even older folks,
internships are a good practice.
I met with a close friend and his work colleague last week as well.
They're currently interning with a business in the Financial District of NYC,
and though they don't find the work or environment particularly thrilling
they are still picking up valuable lessons applicable to other aspects of life.

I, for instance, even learned something from the business opportunity I turned down.
One of the guys who came in said something to the effect of: "Your friend here invited you all here. He didn't know who was gonna join in; he didn't know who was gonna buy his service, and he  didn't know who would just flat out say no. But he didn't rule anybody out. You can't. From your parents to your friends to the bum on the street, you shouldn't rule anyone out. You never know how they're gonna surprise you."

There's been multiple times when I've ruled people out for certain projects,
and I'm sure there have been occasions when someone ruled me out.
Life is full of surprises, and inherently so are people.

So what the morality of the day?
Take chances on people,
know what works for you,
and do what makes you happy -
whether it be passion or cash flow.
Yes, even in this recession.
Hopefully then you won't wake up decades from now
regretting your life in the most cliche way possible.
Word.