A Hustlers Ethic & The Invention of The Dining Car

A Hustlers Ethic & the Invention of The Dining Car:

I love my barbershop. I have been getting my haircut at Saffores in Hollywood, for almost 10 years and within that decade I have met so many interesting individuals, many of whom have become very dear friends to me.

I was having a recent conversation with a well respected partner of mine, who by all means is the definition of a self made, started with nothing now he has what many individuals have had to sell their soul to obtain, only he got it all from hard work, properly planning his next move and hustling. 

Our conversation swayed towards everyone’s view on coming in second place. Incredibly gifted with words is the entire bunch when we all get to going in on any subject, so listening to my friends view of how coming in second place meant you were only trying, not doing and that wasn’t good enough in his opinion.

At first I was arguing the fact that coming in second doesn’t always mean you failed unless we are talking about a fight for your life, which he came back with, “no it doesn't matter what the situation may be, I don't ever want to come in second.” The emphasis with which he said this followed by the words “it’s not a matter of having the most money or the best car, it's a matter of accomplishing what you set out to do, if you went to run that race and came in second, you lost, if you went out to be the boss and you were only the right hand man, you still lost.” To a certain extent I completely agree with how the argument was made, if you set out to do something and didn’t complete the mission, you failed lets be honest. Mind you, this whole conversation started over what company will be producing the best cell phones within the next few years. But it brought to mind a hustler of sorts I recently read about named Mr. Fred Harvey. 

The Fred Harvey Company was the first company to operate a chain of businesses along the railways in the late 1800s that sold quality meals and offered a chance for passengers to get off the train and eat something that wasn't going to kill them before making it to their final destination. Back in those days railway travel was sketch at best because most of the food stands located along any route west of Kansas were nothing more than sellers of rancid meat, old coffee and disease infested blankets. The Harvey Company stepped in and became innovators in how foods were kept, what was sold and how amazing a meal along the railway could be with a bit of thought put behind the business. 

The Fred Harvey Company also oversaw the designing and operations of the very first dining cars on the railway, which eventually lead to an entirely new booming business for Mr. Harvey. His ability to make something where there was once nothing, his keen foresight into what could and should be instead of what was miserably going on, helped propel him to become a very wealthy, dominating and pioneering force in the food and hospitality industry, which is why we remember him today on National Dining Car Day.

The reason for all of this is to simply say, no matter what level or position you play in life at the current moment; if you take a step back and assess the situation, everything can be made better with just a little ingenuity, thought and most importantly action. 

Get out and do what it is you want to do and do it to the best of your abilities, because no one ever remembers the guy who tried but failed, well sometimes they do.