I'm A Guy Who Did Dirty Work At 16

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Jorge used to make a living at 16 doing dirty work, in a very literal sense.

25 years ago, an economic crisis took over Jorge's country. Not that his family prospered before, but at least his father had a steady job that gave the family a small but sustainable income. Jorge's Mom was a housewife. They lived on the outskirts of Mexico. Jorge's father wanted him to receive a formal education so he had to go to school, when his friends didn't seem to have a care in the world, running around the streets and causing mischief.

In 1994, the factory Jorge's Dad used to work for was significantly downsized. His Mom spent two weeks job hunting until Dad told her to drop it and take care of the kids.

The family needed to survive somehow. One of the gigs Jorge suggested was to hold a sign offering clueless tourists who were lost in the remote barrio to walk them back to their hotel. He spent two days at a bus stop with the sign, but no tourists ventured away from downtown Mexico City, where the streets were well-lit and patrolled by the police.

Their next business idea was to sell street food. Jorge's parents spent the last of their money on groceries to cook traditional Mexican burritos and American-style hot dogs. They prepared the food at home before Jorge brought it to a crowded area to sell. To his astonishment, the street was crammed with "entrepreneurs" like himself inviting tourists to try local food. They'd set up street kitchens right there, with no running water and only a lopsided box to serve as a table. Of course, it didn't make a good tourist attraction. There were no fridges so the food was just heating up in the sun.

A wealthy-looking man approached Jorge and told him to quit this nonsense. According to him, the thing to do during a crisis is to buy stock. What he did was purchase Apple stock for 1 dollar per share in the end of 1993. He pledged not to sell it for 20 years. If he kept his promise, he must have sold it in 2013 for 80 times more money than he had invested.

A few hours later, Jorge had sold two hot dogs, so he heeded the man's advice and called it quits. The leftover burritos were spoiled and smelling bad. At home, Mom tried to repurpose them for dinner. Ew. Frustrated, Jorge announced his career as a street vendor was over.

Once, as Jorge was passing by a landfill, he noticed lots of people digging through the trash so he gave it a try. Some of his findings could be sold for scrap or even at the market, after washing them clean. His best find was a genuine leather belt that must have been thrown away by mistake or by someone who was filthy rich. Next day, he took it to the market and returned home with some bread and grains.

The city's largest landfill was filled with more people than garbage. Some of them lived there: an entire family would set up camp next to the landfill and hang out their laundry on clotheslines. Jorge had to spend the night onsite once in a while as well, when he didn't want to miss a shipment of garbage from a wealthy neighborhood. Eventually, he was lucky enough to find a wallet with a golden necklace, a few hundred pesos, and a handful of centavos. He spent the evening persuading his family he hadn't stolen it, until his Dad declared "finders keepers". The newfound riches allowed Jorge to get out of the dumpster for a while. But he was still eager to make money.

His new and stunning idea was to shine shoes next to a five-star hotel. He set up shop a little way away from the door at first. His first customer was an imposing man from a different country, who liked Jorge's service so much he visited him twice in a day. He told the boy he should be bolder if he wanted to survive in this country. After Jorge moved closer to the door, the customers were lining up! Jorge never named a fixed price. He just said "pay what you want", hoping that his rich clients would be generous. Indeed, his tip jar was rapidly filling up with coins and bills. Sure, cleaning people's shoes is dirty work in every sense of the word: your hands are covered in mud from touching dirty shoes all the time, and the nature of the job feels degrading. But what did it matter if the work was dirty as long as the cash was clean!

Years later, Jorge never forgot that first step in his career. The financial crisis actually made him determined to set up goals for himself and reach them, and his misery became a great source of motivation.

Today, Jorge's the owner of a flourishing trucking business in the USA. He enjoys his life and he makes more than enough to provide for his family. He remains convinced you should never get discouraged even if your situation is dire. If you keep looking for ways to survive, one of your projects is bound to succeed.

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