Money Can't Buy Happiness
Posted by Jordan Quitko
To begin I want to catch everyone up on who I have been working for since graduation. He is a man who was given a multimillion-dollar corporation and built it into a multibillion-dollar worldwide conglomerate of over 30 companies. Does this mean he is smarter than anyone of us? The simple answer is NO!
My job is to manage his hobby and assure that we make the right investments with regards to its value. I know most people have hobbies that consist of stamp collecting, playing horseshoes or painting, however my boss’s hobby is collecting very expensive pieces of art. He owns millions of dollars worth of painting, sculpture, furniture, and random shit that would make anyone of us think twice about its value. The difference is he has to hire an outside person to make sure he doesn’t lose or break these items. I constantly ask myself when he will have enough art and I will not be needed anymore and I will be fired.
I have learned a lot of useful and useless knowledge working for this man, but nothing more useful then the realization that “Money Can’t Buy Happiness.” He keeps buying things although he no longer has room to store all of this art and some of it just sits in the basement of my office building. His wealth keeps growing but I see his loneliness and depression growing at an even faster rate.
He has a younger brother who is the president of the company. I was shocked to find out that they have not spoken in over 8 years. Was their fight over money? No. Was their fight over a Woman? No. There fight stems from a squabble over the same art collection that I manage. Is it worth having this wealth without family to share it with? I don’t think so, but his greed has pushed other members of his family away. He has three children who all refuse to talk to their father, however they were raised so poorly they must still live under the comforting umbrella of their father’s money.
I recently got a good friend of mine a temporary two-week job working at one of my boss’s houses in NYC. My friend Bill was in essence a butler for a man who never once asked his name or even acknowledged him. Bill told me about his daily life and instead of my usually indifference to the daily life of my boss a sudden feeling of sorrow fell upon my heart. I was told that he eats every meal alone and rarely talks to anyone outside of the people who work for him. I always took his stern expression for total disregard for people beneath him, however now I realize it is because he cannot face people knowing the pain he has inflicted on the people he truly loves.
This may seem like a rant about my boss and my job, but it is truly a realization of my life and the choices we all make. In fact I really like my job and up until recently I didn’t care much for my boss until I realized his pain. My boss strove his whole life for the riches of money and in doing so he has lost the most valuable possession on earth; love. Its different for most people because we don’t have that sort of money, however we all have family and friends that care for us and we should not become so wrapped up in work that we turn a blind eye to the needs of our loved ones. This sounds really sappy and cheesy but for all the money my boss has he still feels empty inside. He has taught me the greatest lesson of all time and that is to not strive to be like him; and for this I truly thank him for that realization. Good luck to everyone in whatever you choose topursue and remember that it’s your friends and family that shape the person you are now.
To begin I want to catch everyone up on who I have been working for since graduation. He is a man who was given a multimillion-dollar corporation and built it into a multibillion-dollar worldwide conglomerate of over 30 companies. Does this mean he is smarter than anyone of us? The simple answer is NO!
My job is to manage his hobby and assure that we make the right investments with regards to its value. I know most people have hobbies that consist of stamp collecting, playing horseshoes or painting, however my boss’s hobby is collecting very expensive pieces of art. He owns millions of dollars worth of painting, sculpture, furniture, and random shit that would make anyone of us think twice about its value. The difference is he has to hire an outside person to make sure he doesn’t lose or break these items. I constantly ask myself when he will have enough art and I will not be needed anymore and I will be fired.
I have learned a lot of useful and useless knowledge working for this man, but nothing more useful then the realization that “Money Can’t Buy Happiness.” He keeps buying things although he no longer has room to store all of this art and some of it just sits in the basement of my office building. His wealth keeps growing but I see his loneliness and depression growing at an even faster rate.
He has a younger brother who is the president of the company. I was shocked to find out that they have not spoken in over 8 years. Was their fight over money? No. Was their fight over a Woman? No. There fight stems from a squabble over the same art collection that I manage. Is it worth having this wealth without family to share it with? I don’t think so, but his greed has pushed other members of his family away. He has three children who all refuse to talk to their father, however they were raised so poorly they must still live under the comforting umbrella of their father’s money.
I recently got a good friend of mine a temporary two-week job working at one of my boss’s houses in NYC. My friend Bill was in essence a butler for a man who never once asked his name or even acknowledged him. Bill told me about his daily life and instead of my usually indifference to the daily life of my boss a sudden feeling of sorrow fell upon my heart. I was told that he eats every meal alone and rarely talks to anyone outside of the people who work for him. I always took his stern expression for total disregard for people beneath him, however now I realize it is because he cannot face people knowing the pain he has inflicted on the people he truly loves.
This may seem like a rant about my boss and my job, but it is truly a realization of my life and the choices we all make. In fact I really like my job and up until recently I didn’t care much for my boss until I realized his pain. My boss strove his whole life for the riches of money and in doing so he has lost the most valuable possession on earth; love. Its different for most people because we don’t have that sort of money, however we all have family and friends that care for us and we should not become so wrapped up in work that we turn a blind eye to the needs of our loved ones. This sounds really sappy and cheesy but for all the money my boss has he still feels empty inside. He has taught me the greatest lesson of all time and that is to not strive to be like him; and for this I truly thank him for that realization. Good luck to everyone in whatever you choose topursue and remember that it’s your friends and family that shape the person you are now.
This entry was posted by Ben Myers, on
Wednesday, April 05, 2006.
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