The Call That Was Never Made

In every individual’s life, there are myriad epochal turning points, crossroads, etc. While they’re sometimes evident at the time, many are shrouded in the circumstances and are only visible via retrospective contemplation.

As you know, I’m an avid investor, with that field of study joining writing/idea creating as the second pillar of my vocational endeavors. Well, once, when I was still out there in the free world, my buddy CL and I went and saw the movie Boiler Room. Of course, we loved it, as it seemed to capture the essence of being a stockbroker (notwithstanding the silly, criminal plot twist) almost to the degree that Rounders captures the essence of poker.

In those days, I still smoked marijuana, so, once back in the perennially aromatic confines of my car, we lit up right there in the Tinseltown parking lot. As the smoke wafted out of the cracked windows, and we contemplated the movie from our newly altitudinal perspective, my buddy lolled his head over at me with hooded red eyes and said, “my uncle is a manager at one of those firms, and has been asking me to come work for him. Do you want me to get us some jobs there?”

Cranking up the car, I let it idle along with my mind as I considered what he’d just asked. There was really no reason to decline. My latent love for the field was jarred with the inspiration the movie induced in us. I was in between partial semesters at college, in between jobs, in between everything…

Then, reverting back to my “life’s a joke” mentality, I threw the car in reverse, and with a haughty scowl, drawled at him, “hell-lll no!!!”

Laughing down the beltway, we lit up yet again. And, as it logically follows, he never did call his uncle.