Shoe shine man is worth $20 million.

Every morning, the CEO of a major bank in Manhattan went to the corner where a shoeshine man was always there.

He used to sit on the chair, read the Wall Street Journal, and the shoeshine man gave his shoes a shiny, great look.

One morning, the shoeshine man asks the CEO:

"What do you think of the stock market situation?"

The CEO arrogantly asks him:

"Why are you so interested in this subject?"

The shoeshine man replies:

"I have 20 million dollars deposited in your bank and I am thinking about investing part of the money in the stock market."

The CEO of the bank asks:

"What is your name?"

He replies: "John Smith H."

The CEO arrives at the bank and asks the Manager of the Major Accounts Department:

"Do we have a customer named John Smith H.?"

He replies:

"We certainly do, sir! He is an extremely esteemed customer! He has 20 million dollars in his account."

The CEO leaves the bank, approaches the shoeshine boy, and says:

"Mr. Smith, I would like to invite you to be our guest of honor at our board meeting next Monday and tell us your life story. I'm sure we will have a lot to learn from you."

At the board meeting, the CEO introduces him to the board members

"We all know Mr. Smith, who makes our shoes shine like no one else. But Mr. Smith is also our valued customer, with twenty million dollars in his account. I invited him to tell us the story of his life. I'm sure we can learn a lot from him. Please, Mr. Smith, tell us your life story."

Then, Mr. Smith began to narrate his story:

"I came to this country thirty years ago as a young immigrant from Eastern Europe and with an unpronounceable name. I left the ship penniless in my pocket. The first thing I did was to change my name to Smith. I was hungry and exhausted. I started to wander in search for a job, but without success.

Suddenly, I found a coin on the sidewalk. I bought some apples. I had two options: eat the apples and quench my hunger or start a business. I sold the apples for 50 cents and bought more apples with the money.

When I started accumulating dollars, I managed to buy a set of used brushes and shoe polishes and started cleaning shoes.

I didn't spend a dime on fun or clothes. I only bought bread and cheese to survive.

I saved penny by penny and after a while I bought a new set of brushes and shoe polishes in different shades and colors and increased my clientele.

I lived like a monk and saved every penny. I managed to buy a chair so that my customers could sit comfortably while I cleaned their shoes, which brought me more customers.

I didn't spend a dime on the pleasures of life. I kept saving every penny.

A few years ago, when the corner shoeshine colleague decided to retire, I had already saved enough money to buy his point, which was a better place than mine.

Finally, 3 months ago, my drug dealer brother passed away and left me 20 million dollars."

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The Catholic church next door was surprisingly UnChristian, many times. Here’s just one example - I noticed a large stream of water coming from the barrier between their parking lot and the street. It was quite thick, and water streamed all the way down the street.

I called the Priest, and mentioned how much it was costing them to let the water run like that. They said they would look into it. Several days went by, and the water was still running down the street.

I called back, and the Priest said they had looked into it, and they thought it was coming from my property, so they were not going to do anything about it. Several more days went by, and I’d finally had enough, so I called the city - they came out that day and turned the water off to the church (it had been coming from an old sprinkler system that was installed prior to the parking lot being built, that had finally decayed enough to burst a pipe).

When the Church got the water bill, the Priest called me and asked me if I could pay it! I reminded him that I was a) the one that told him about the problem, b) he decided to do nothing, and c) I finally fixed the problem - saving him even more money - by calling the city. No charitable thank you was forthcoming. WWJD?

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I was recently asked by an American guest - "How did the UK get an American style navy with no aircraft carriers ? " - and to be honest, I was gobsmacked at how he could be so ignorant and arrogant assuming the USA created everything great and good and how the rest of the world followed behind.

Ok, a few things wrong with this but I will still try and share some facts not myths.

If by American style navy, you mean bluewater navy.

The British had the world's first modern blue water navy and had a blue water sailing fleet long before America had either, but Americans do like to think they invented everything and how the rest of the world didn't exist before the USA.

A blue water navy is a navy that is designed to operate and battle far out to sea and on distant coastlines as opposed to a brown water navy that operates within a range of its own coast for defensive purposes only.

The British had a the most powerful bluewater sail fleet in the world in the year 1600, America didn’t have a Navy for almost 200 years after.

Second problem. The british do have aircraft carriers.

HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, are supercarriers, with similar launch and recovery times, 75% of aircraft capacity and the highest possible range and speed for a combustion-electric ship (Nimitz is nuclear).

HMS Prince of Wales

The final problem is that Britain invented the aircraft carrier.

From the 58 ft barge towed behind destroyers in WW1 carrying a single Sopwith Camel fighter that would have to land on shore somewhere.

To the world's first purpose built carrier. (depending on how you define purpose built)

HMS Ark Royal with a flight of Fairey Swordfish passing over (1939).

HMS Argus in final stages of sea trials, wearing dazzle camouflage (1917).

So other than if anything, it should be, the Americans have a “British style navy” (remember that word “bluewater”) . It is because they do in fact have aircraft carriers.

I have added a section about HMS Argus however I maintain that the Ark was the first Intentionally designed, purposely layed down aircraft carrier. (PS HMS Argus was definitely in service as a carrier before HMS Hermes so please do not comment on that either)

I will admit that the Spanish, French and occasionally Russian, Italian and Portuguese fleets would have been considered superpowers at the time, however since the early 1600’s the Royal navy has been on average the most powerful out of all of these, I do wonder though why Americans show themselves up as so foolish - so uneducated - always assuming everything is / was an American invention when clearly - man MANY things simply are not.

Computers

Web Sites

Combustion engine,

Railroads

Air planes

Vertical take off Harrier Jump Jet

Electric light bulb,

Telephone

Telescope

Submarines

Steam engine

Bob Hope

Angels Landsbury

Charlie Chaplin

Even America was supposedly an English Invention - Plymouth Rock...

Americans forget that the UK was a global super power while they were not even a colony and the USA was home to its own indigenous people who white man - basically - butchered and mass murdered and those left alive put in camps and their land stolen, so - Americans are NOT indigenous to the USA but largely from ENGLAND and the rest of Europe.

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