[BayMoWe335]

Eating out at one of our favorite restaurants, I learned our waiter did something pretty cool to better his own life, without the help of government or handouts.

The place we go serves great authentic Mexican food and this guy always takes exceptional care of us and does an outstanding job. Over the course of eating here several times per month, we've learned more about his story.

He's from Mexico, close to the capital. He is here legally, but could not speak any English. Immediately, he started as a bus boy at the restaurant and worked another day job doing landscaping to make ends meet.

He saw his co-workers making pretty good money in tips being servers and thought he could do the same thing. Not able to speak English, this was impossible since this restaurant caters to your typical upper-middle class white crowd.

He decided to take English classes at a local community college to improve his speaking ability and became a full time waiter. His English is now great and he receives requests from regulars to be their waiter. He does pretty well for himself. He's now taking more classes and is working toward an associates degree and has plans for a 4 year degree.

I thought this was a refreshing story about hard work and determination to make your own life better, without expecting help elsewhere. So many Americans want free this or that, but it is possible to make your own way with all the opportunities out there. You just have to work. Something to think about.

[smmmurf]

+1

[SS e93]

Of course. It takes work to better your life, but we live in a society where people feel entitled and do not think they need to start from the bottom.

[P1]

There are people all over the world waiting for a free handout. I do not worry about them as they will never make something of themselves.

[Arben72]

This is what my dad did coming from communism. He came here with only $20 and a suitcase full of old clothes. Learned English at a college. After working in the restaurant business for over 15 years with over 80 hour weeks, he finally opened his own restaurant. Now he has a few businesses, and is well beyond comfortable. It is refreshing knowing many people that did this, it's really a rags to riches story whether they come from the Eastern bloc or Mexico.

[TrevorM3]

well said.


Too many people don't want to be responsible for themselves

[Repoman]

This is a fine example. The story my parents had was along the same lines as this one. Good to hear people doing good things.

[Robin_NL]

Nice story.





Cheers
Robin

[Biorin]

Good story. My mom escaped with her family to America after the Vietnam War, and they all refused any sort of welfare or handouts. Her father always said "if you have two hands, you can work." They worked their butts off, learned English, graduated with honors from Georgetown and are all now quite successful. I can't stand when people constantly try to make it sound like it's impossible for anyone who doesn't come from a wealthy background to succeed. It may be more difficult, but you can certainly do it.

[NemesisX]

Nice story. My dad grew up in a lower middle class household outside the U.S. but managed to earn full scholarships at Stanford and UIUC (PhD Electrical Engineering) by becoming the valedictorian at his undergraduate institution (incidentally his brother (my uncle) was salutatorian).

If I ever become even 1/10 as successful as my dad I'll be lucky.

[MiddleAgedAl]

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." -Thomas Edison

[kevinbahnz]

My dad came to America by himself in 78. He went to a community college in Philly and sponsored us after. He's not a business man but he helped both my older sisters with financing their businesses so they don't have to work as hard as he did. he passed away from cancer in 2006 and 3 years later he helped me start up my business.

[kingofthedemo]

Originally Posted by kevinbahnz

he passed away from cancer in 2006 and 3 years later he helped me start up my business.

Not to be disrespectful, but I found the aforementioned sentence a bit confusing.

Sorry to hear about his passing though, it sounds like he really made a great life for himself, and his family as a result of his hard work.

[kevinbahnz]

Originally Posted by kingofthedemo

Not to be disrespectful, but I found the aforementioned sentence a bit confusing.

Sorry to hear about his passing though, it sounds like he really made a great life for himself, and his family as a result of his hard work.

No disrespect at all. That sentence was a bit confusing but my mother sold one of his properties after he passed and loaned it to me. She will retire next year and move down here to be with all of us. So even after his death he's found a way to help us.

[kingofthedemo]

Originally Posted by kevinbahnz

No disrespect at all. That sentence was a bit confusing but my mother sold one of his properties after he passed and loaned it to me. She will retire next year and move down here to be with all of us. So even after his death he's found a way to help us.

Oh I see now.

[M_Six]

I bet the one thing all of the success stories above had in common was an ability to learn. Even if you don't speak a language, you can survive if you can learn.

Part of the problem with unemployment and an apparent inability to improve oneself stems from a lack of even the very fundamentals of learning. Too many troubled schools are passing students along who cannot read at any level. And forget simple math. It's a sin to flunk or hold back students who don't meet minimum standards, so they get shuffled along until they reach 12th grade, then they get handed a completely useless diploma and are sent out into the world, or (all too often) sent off to college on some "scholarship" aimed at disadvantaged youth. While such programs have laudable goals, the same "everybody gets to go to college" dogma that pervades the US these days makes these programs laughable instead of laudable. Even back in the mid-80's when I was teaching courses for the US Army in Germany, I saw high school graduates who could not read the simplest sentences. I asked them how they got past the Army's entrance exams and to a man they answered that their recruiter had taken the test for them. All this passing along of underachieving students is supposed to avoid destroying their self-confidence, but all it does is delay the effect until it's no longer the school's problem.

Schools need to go back to the basics and teach kids first and foremost to read and do simple math. Dick and Jane stuff and multiplication tables. Worry about the cultural mumbo-jumbo and all that tripe later. If kids can't read, they can't learn. Simple as that. If you can't learn, you can't improve. And that's how we end up with so many flunkies who have given up and just put their hand out (or end up criminals).

[bumere90]

I moved to the U.S with my parents when I was 17. I am 26 now. I literally started from the bottom. I remember me sleeping on plain carpet for almost a month lol. Couldn't speak no English, had no money and no friends. I got a job at Denny's as a bus boy. At first, I loved my job because I was making $$$. But after some time, I realized that I could be making WAY more. The next thing I did was I took the ASVAB test 3 times and failed, because I suck in math and apparently my English sucked also. So, then I decided to go to college. I faced the same problem, couldn't pass the freaking placement test lol. Went to Barnes & Noble bought a math text book for beginners and within 6 months I got accepted. Since then, I have all A's in my science courses. Currently, working towards my B.S. in Biology.
I am still amazed that people who were born here take everything they have for granted.
After I get my degree, I am planing to join the U.S. Army.
I believe that hard work and dedication will pay off soon or later.
Our country is falling apart because the younger generation has different values. They see a person standing on the edge of the cliff, the first thing that comes to their mind is to record a video and upload on YouTube.

[Whostheboss]

Originally Posted by bumere90

I moved to the U.S with my parents when I was 17. I am 26 now. I literally started from the bottom. I remember me sleeping on plain carpet for almost a month lol. Couldn't speak no English, had no money and no friends. I got a job at Denny's as a bus boy. At first, I loved my job because I was making $$$. But after some time, I realized that I could be making WAY more. The next thing I did was I took the ASVAB test 3 times and failed, because I suck in math and apparently my English sucked also. So, then I decided to go to college. I faced the same problem, couldn't pass the freaking placement test lol. Went to Barnes & Noble bought a math text book for beginners and within 6 months I got accepted. Since then, I have all A's in my science courses. Currently, working towards my B.S. in Biology.
I am still amazed that people who were born here take everything they have for granted.
After I get my degree, I am planing to join the U.S. Army.
I believe that hard work and dedication will pay off soon or later.
Our country is falling apart because the younger generation has different values. They see a person standing on the edge of the cliff, the first thing that comes to their mind is to record a video and upload on YouTube.

+1

[BayMoWe335]

Update: He got his associate degree, soon after my original post. He transferred to a university and took his remaining classes to earn a bachelor's degree in marketing. He left waiting tables and now works at an energy company in marketing where he uses his bilingual proficiency to target Spanish speaking customers.

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by BayMoWe335

Eating out at one of our favorite restaurants, I learned our waiter did something pretty cool to better his own life, without the help of government or handouts.

The place we go serves great authentic Mexican food and this guy always takes exceptional care of us and does an outstanding job. Over the course of eating here several times per month, we've learned more about his story.

He's from Mexico, close to the capital. He is here legally, but could not speak any English. Immediately, he started as a bus boy at the restaurant and worked another day job doing landscaping to make ends meet.

He saw his co-workers making pretty good money in tips being servers and thought he could do the same thing. Not able to speak English, this was impossible since this restaurant caters to your typical upper-middle class white crowd.

He decided to take English classes at a local community college to improve his speaking ability and became a full time waiter. His English is now great and he receives requests from regulars to be their waiter. He does pretty well for himself. He's now taking more classes and is working toward an associates degree and has plans for a 4 year degree.

I thought this was a refreshing story about hard work and determination to make your own life better, without expecting help elsewhere. So many Americans want free this or that, but it is possible to make your own way with all the opportunities out there. You just have to work. Something to think about.

Sounds like the guy who started a really popular local chain around here, District Taco (think of it as Chipotle if Chipotle wasn't complete fucking shit).

He also came into America as a legal resident. Worked as a bus boy at a restaurant and picked up English by listening to people speak at the bar, the bartender (who he'd later marry) would help him learn English.

Later on, he picked up a job working in construction and did that as well. The recession hit and he had lost his job. With the extra free time, he decided to have his neighbors come over and he'd make them dinner. His neighbors were so floored with how excellent the Mexican food was, they urged him to open up a restaurant. He said he couldn't afford to do that, so his neighbors offered to loan him money to get something going. The money they gave was enough to start a little food truck (or it may have been a food stand, I can't remember). So he set that up and worked in downtown DC. The place became so popular he was able to open a store, it snowballed from there and now he's got a few spots in the DC metro area.

[jpdchicago]

Originally Posted by Robin_NL

Nice story.





Cheers
Robin

I like your bumper sticker

[Maynard]

I think the real common thread here is that they all left a bad situation to COME TO AMERICA - for opportunities that did not exist in their lands (really - with this much grit and talent, they would have done so much better in their homelands if those had any opportunities). Now we need to face the fact that part of what made their homes bad might be part of what was making America great, and figure out how we can shift to a world order where everybody has opportunity, so they don't decide to come take ours.