When I was a teen, one of the first jobs I got was an overnight gig at a sports bar/restaurant. We were in the middle of a recession, and the only position I could find was as the dishwasher, and after the quickest interview ever, they hired me.
Tossing me the keys in case I had to get in when it was closed (they could tell I was trustworthy), I was left alone with a mountain of dishes in the kitchen. As I was coming in, the 2nd shit was leaving, and some of the adults would spend some time chatting with me.
Since I walked home, one night the manager offered me a ride home in his brand-new car. This ride was the beginning of my financial mentorship from a man who was living large at a time when most people were struggling to make ends meet.
As I've said before, once they get to know me, people can tell I'm honest and trustworthy. As I marveled over his new car, he willingly let me in on how much he made and how he was able to afford it. I was surprised when he mentioned his annual salary, but then he said something I've never forgotten.
"The More You Make, The More You Spend"
He said "The more you make, the more you spend. Expenses are like a gas filling a room. No matter how large you make the room, the gas will expand to fill all available space."
He explained how with each promotion and raise he got, he'd go out and buy the next shiny new thing. If they gave him a $1000 weekly raise, he'd have spent it all.
This was his way of warning me as a young kid not to follow his example. What I couldn't understand at the time was if he could see the problem, why did he keep spending?
It was a living example of a classic problem that many of us face from time to time.
Over the next year, he and other managers and workers were only too happy to stay late and chat the nice new kid up about finance.
"Dishwasher Talk"
Over many nights of "dishwasher talk" and rides home where we'd chat in the car in front of my home for an hour about money, the lives of these adults slowly unfolded in front of me.
Spendy girlfriends and wives, drugs and alcohol, along with the never-ending quest for the latest new thing, all conspired to empty their wallets drip by drip.
I still remember those lessons to this day, and was supposed to be a lonely little job washing dishes, gave me a lifetime education in money.
It was one of the most consequential jobs I've ever had, and I'm so glad I had the chance to work amongst some great people. It turns out that you can learn something no matter what your job is, as long as you're open to learning and growing as a person. Even a dishwasher can learn some valuable lessons in money and life.
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