Almost every day, I hear from people, or people, who feel like they have been scammed by someone who recruited them for some kind of business opportunity. While there are definitely scammers and some pretty bad scams, sometimes there is a bit more to it than that. The following story is my adaptation of a joke told by Tom “Big Al” Schreiter in his fantastic little book, “Big Al’s Super Prospecting: Special Offers and Quick Start Systems.”
My old friend Bob is from Arizona. A couple of years ago, he was offered a job in the Pacific Northwest. Ol ‘Bob had never seen so many trees in his life. At first it was a bit overwhelming, but he started to get used to and then to really enjoy the beauties of nature that he found around him.
However, one thing he did not enjoy was his new job. The hours sucked, he was never able to spend time with his family or in the fantastic scenery he only saw on his way to and from work, his boss had studied with Hitler and the pay was lousy. Bob was really frustrated and began to desperately search for a way to change his life.
One day, when he was watering his garden, his neighbor, Jim, passed by. Bob suddenly realized that Jim, and most of his neighbors, drove new trucks, dressed casually, worked relatively few hours, always seemed to be making enough money to have nice things, were in good physical condition, and appeared to have Common things. to talk. He thought of his growing belly, the paleness of the office, the decline in his bank account, and the lack of friends and asked, “Hey Jim! Would you mind telling me what you do?”
Jim replied, “I’m a lumberjack!”
“Can you make money out of it?”
“Sure. Do you see all these trees? They are big stacks of money. The guys and I went out and cut some, we sold the wood and they pay us very well.”
Well, Bob knew what a lumberjack was, but being from Arizona, he had never thought of making money cutting trees!
He looked around his garage, found an old ax left by the previous tenant, and headed into the woods. Finding a nice tree, he began to cut down. After several minutes, he was exhausted and had barely made a dent in the tree. After a short break, he tried again and had to stop and rest some more. It was almost exhausted and the tree was barely dented.
At that moment, Jim walked by and saw what was happening. He laughed and said, “Bob, you’ll sink dead before that tree falls with that dull ax. Take it to the hardware store and sharpen it. Oh, and by the way, no one will buy the wood from that tree, it’s infested with termites! However, those two over there are pretty good. “
Bob thanked him and went to the hardware store.
The hardware store clerk said he would be happy to sharpen the ax, but he had something even better. In this way he left a cool looking contraption on the counter.
“What’s that?” asked Bob.
“A chainsaw,” replied the clerk. “With one of these, you can do ten times more than you could even with a sharp ax.”
Bob might have been from Arizona, but he had seen photos of chainsaws. He wasn’t quite sure how to use one, but the clerk seemed to be giving him direct information, but he wasn’t quite sure.
“I’ll be back later for the ax,” he said.
He went to Jim’s house. Jim would give him the scoop.
“Jim, how long does it take to cut down a tree with a sharp ax?”
Jim told him. It seemed like a lot of work and a lot of time.
“How much do they pay you for each tree?” I ask.
Jim told him that too. Bob did the math and found that he was earning more at his office job. However, before he could ask his next question, Jim said, “Of course, you could cut ten times as many trees with a good chainsaw.”
Bingo! That was the second time he heard that from someone who should know. This time, the math told him that he could triple his current income while working fewer hours a week … outdoors, without commuting and without having to listen to his boss or wake up at dawn. .
“Jim! At the hardware store, the clerk offered to sell me a chainsaw, but I wasn’t sure if I should buy it. Now, I think I will.”
“Wait a minute,” Jim said. “They will charge you an arm and a leg for a chainsaw that was not designed for felling, just for cutting brush. I have an extra chainsaw that I will sell you. It is the same chainsaw that we all use, and I will sell it to you for $ 100 less than that the hardware store would charge him for the little brush cutter. “
Bob reached for his wallet, and in less than 5 minutes, he was on his way to the woods with his new purchase. Jim had offered to get him the instruction booklet, but Bob was in a hurry and said he would figure it out himself.
Later that night, Jim’s wife invited their boss to a cookout, celebrating their newest promotion. This promotion was raising her up in the world and she didn’t want anything to go wrong.
Just as the festivities were starting, Bob drove like crazy and came to a screeching halt, nearly hitting a couple of guests in the process. He jumped out of his car and headed toward Jim, chainsaw in hand and anger on his face. He was dirty and sweaty. His clothes were tattered and ripped. He looked drunk or exhausted and paced back and forth as he approached Jim.
“Here’s your bloody chainsaw,” he growled, slamming the table with the food and punch bowl, a family heirloom that quickly shattered into several pieces. “Give me back my money, thief,” he growled, his face flushed, his eyes bulging, the veins bulging from his neck. “You gave me a line on how to make money from my own business, then you fooled me with those things of having to own a chainsaw so you could make money on my desire to be independent, pretending to be my friend all the time.”
“Well,” he continued, “I’m on you, and I’m going downtown right now and I’ll tell everyone how criminal you are. That chainsaw you sold me is rubbish. I spent the whole day trying to cut down a tree with it, and hardly dented the tree. I already stopped several people from going to the hardware store because they are thieves like you. I saw the mayor and the editor of the newspaper on the street on their way here, and I told them you were a scoundrel and they headed to their offices saying that they were going to get to the bottom of this and see you in jail for stealing my money.
Enraged, Jim said, “You can’t come here like this making all these accusations, ruining my wife’s party, not to mention my lawn and maybe my life. I gave you the best information you could hope for and sold you a great chainsaw at a price. Fantastic because I thought we were friends. After you’ve treated me, my friends, and my family like that, I’ll never give you your money back! Get off my property. “
With a curse, Bob jumped into his car and drove madly home a few doors down the street, leaving the chainsaw on the table.
With a shake of his head, Jim took the chainsaw and pulled the cord. The chainsaw came to life with a roar and with one swift movement, Jim easily cut through several pieces of firewood stacked nearby.
As he got out of his car onto his own driveway, Bob looked up at the noise and said, “What the heck is that fuss about?”
Do you get the point?