Opportunism

          Since and early age, my father’s fascination for Trucks has been admirable. Though he was by no means a poor performing student in school, it was evident what he’s career path would be; anything involving trucks and construction. Once my father had finished he’s high school education here in the United States, and my grandfather had saved enough money, they returned to their native land where my grandfather opened up he’s own construction business. He’s business required him to purchase three trucks, a front loader, tools, and to stock up his business with the required inventory and employees. Knowing his son’s fascination for trucks, my grandfather gave him one of he’s three trucks. My father was eager to learn and once he did, he took full advantage and worked long and hard for the family business. He’s fascination for trucks grew so much that he even learned the mechanics behind them; he learned how to fix them, upgrade, and even how to assemble them.

            My grandfather’s business prospered for quite some time, but once he began to make good money his live choices began to take a turn for the worse. He began to drink often and even began to gamble. His choices and his business correlated and he began to loose customers to upcoming similar businesses. My grandfather became so distressed that he decided to take a break from he’s business and knowing my father had come to know the how to run the place he decided to leave him in charge. The business had a quick turn for the best; he increased the inventory and purchased more trucks to accommodate for the recent increase in demand for construction material. Having an expertise in mechanics, my father began to take the lead in fixing the broken down machinery saving the business money. The business was growing prosperous once again and then a golden opportunity for my father arose, my grandfather had decided to return to the United States to work for his friend and he offered my father ownership of his home and the business. It was a perfect gift and a perfect opportunity for a man who just had his first child. Though one would imagine my father’s decision to be obvious, he declined my grandfather’s offer and decided to also leave for the U.S with his family, leaving the business behind.

            Knowing about my father’s fascination for trucks and construction, I was at awe when he told his story, yet his reasoning is somewhat understandable. From his perspective he felt that he would be taking advantage of my grandfather’s situation and he felt that he’s family needed him. Though his decision seemed noble to him at the time, in retrospect, he regrets not giving the idea a chance. For one, it was a passion for him to work with trucks and construction and he had made the business prosper when it was on a decline, everything was already set and it would have been a great opportunity for his new family (me being he’s new child). My father also explained to me that he thought more would come with patience. Since he already had an expertise on how to run a business he thought that with patience he could restart the old family business here in the United States. Some good did come out of my father’s patience since he did end up purchasing three trucks of his own, two of which he rents out to other truck driver’s and he did give his family a good life here in the U.S, a life that might not have been possible at his native land, but who knows, perhaps he did miss out on a more well off life.

            As previously discussed, some people might miss an opportunity due to being a “good citizen” or because being opportunistic might be considered unethical or maybe just because they believe good things come to those that wait like my father did. Though all those reasons might be noble, there might exist other reasons why people fail to be more opportunistic; some people might miss out on an opportunity due to the fear of failure. For example, though my father did explain he’s reasoning for not taking advantage of the opportunity he might not have seized the moment due to the fear of not keeping up the good work, or perhaps he felt that he needed my grandfather’s guidance. Regardless of the reason, missing an opportunity all have the same results in the short run. The respective individual missed a chance to either better him self or perhaps dogged failure, but regardless of the reason behind missing the opportunity the immediate outcome is the same. Thought the immediate outcome is the same, the long term outcome might turn out to be different depending on the reason for not taking advantage of an opportunity. Someone who feared taking risk might fear to take another chance later in the future as well, on the other hand, someone who was being patient and waited for another opportunity might be better of in the long run due to an even better one.