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I knew a guy like that!
His name was Jim. Jim was way down on his luck as usual, wandering around looking for a job, when he passed the Baptist church. He went in and said, “Pastor, I don’t want a handout, I just want me a job.” The preacher told him they happened to be hiring a janitor, and gave him a job application to fill out. Poor Jim started to shake and said, “Pastor, I’d fill this out, but I can’t read.”
Pastor told him because of all the chemicals with hazard warnings and specific directions printed on them that the janitor had to use, he had to be able to read. “I cant hire you, but we just had a food drive and there is this bag of apples left over. Have some apples to eat, and good luck.”
Jim took the apples and ate one. He walked around the neighborhood and sold the rest for 50 cents each. The next morning he took that money down to the fruit distributor and bought a whole box of apples and sold them for 50 cents each.
After a few weeks he was selling so many apples he bought a cart.
Soon he had a truck, wholesaling apples all over the city.
He started putting money in the bank every week, and became good friends with the bank president. After a few years he bought out the fruit distributor, and every week he took his extra money down to the bank.
After 25 years Jim decided he would retire. He sold the fruit distributorship for a million dollars and put the money in the bank.
One day he went to the bank to get some of his money out, and the bank president was there. He said, “Jim, I’ve been watching you for 25 years and you have been thrifty and ambitious. It is a testament to the spirit of freedom of opportunity in this great country that a man who can’t even read could become a millionaire. Do you have any idea where you would be today if you could read?”
“Yeah, I know ‘sacly where I’d be,” Jim said. “I’d be the janitor down at the Baptist church.”
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