If you ask me1If you ask me, real life is not all it's cracke d up to be. Twelve yearsat school and threeyearsat univer sity, teache rs bangin g on aboutopport uniti es in the big wide worldbeyond our shelte red life as studen ts, and what do I find?2 Try as I mightto stay cheerf ul, all I ever get is hassle, someti mes with people (especi allyboys, god, when will they grow up?), but mostly with money. It's just so expens ive out here! Everyo ne wantsa sliceoff you. The Inland Revenu e wantsto deduct income tax, the bank manage r wantsrepaym entson my studen t loan, the landlo rd wantsthe rent, gas, water, electr icity and my mobile billskeep coming in, and all that's before I've had anythi ng to eat. And then some bright sparkcallsme out of the blue, asking if I'm intere stedin buying a pensio n. At this rate, I won't even last till the end of the year, let alonetill I'm 60.3 I didn't really want to go out to work just yet. I mean, I wasn't a dropou t and I knew I'd have to some day. Accord ing to any number of people "life's not a picnic", "there's no such thingas a free lunch". But giventhat I'd got a good degree, I though t I'd like to go on to get my master's. Actual ly, I had my eye on the course at the London School of Econom ics (LSE) . Top school, very good for my CV. But I talked to my mum aboutit, and she said she couldn't afford to suppor t me any more. I kind of unders tandit, and not just becaus e my degree is in econom ics. She'd worked hard for 15 yearsto give me an educat ion. My dad wasn't around most of the time, and when he was, he didn't have any money. He'd spentit gambli ng on the dogs or down the pub. So it came to the pointwhenI just agreed with Mum, and bowedmyself toward s the inevit able.4 If you ask me, and despit e everyt hingyou hear, fortun ately thereare some really nice people out there. Take Mike, for exampl e. When I left univer sity, what I though t was that my mum wouldfeel oblige d to look afterme if I return ed home. So I packed up my belong ingsand went to London to get a job. I wanted someth ing in financ e and invest ments, becaus e you know, maybewith a job like that, I coulduse my degree. But by that time, therewere no jobs left, and I didn't really want to end up in some boring office, doingphotoc opies and making the tea.5 Go anywhe re you like in London and there's usuall y a good pub. The day I realiz ed no one in the city was goingto offerme a job, I went into The Salisb ury on Leaden hallStreet for a drinkand someth ing to eat. Mike the landlo rd was at the bar, pourin g pintswith one hand, making sandwi cheswith the other, and washin g the glasse s all at the same time—it's true, he really did seem to have threehands. He also seemed to know everyo ne, and greete d the regula rs by name, gettin g theirdrinks readywith the questi on, "The usualtoday, is it?" I though t he looked kind of cool, he was doingwhat he did best, servin g thirst y client s, and no one did it better. So I went up to him and askedhim whethe r therewas a job for me.6 Well, to cut a long storyshort, I starte d work in the pub one Friday lunchtime. It was quitedemand ing work, but I likedit. People seemed to find me amusin g and it made me feel better too. Therewas one middle-aged regula r in a suit who always had a half of bitter and a ham and pickle sandwi ch, with the crusts cut off. When I saw Tony coming, I triedto have his lunchreadyfor him even before he asked. He was anothe r one of thosereally nice people.7 If you ask me, spendi ng moneywhen you don't have any is dead easy. I beganto thinkabouthow I'd spendmy firstmonth's wages. The flat whereI was stayin g was expens ive, and I just abouthad enough to coverthe firstmonth's substa ntial bills. But I calcul atedthat there'd be just enough moneyover to treatmyself to someth ing. Why not get a CD or maybea plantto cheerup the flat? I though t.8 It was my birthd ay on pay day. Apartfrom Mike and Tony, I didn't have any friend s in London. Seeing that I didn't have a boyfri end either, you can unders tandwhy I beganto feel sorryfor myself. So I ordere d myself some flower s, and askedthem to be sent with a little card, saying "With all my love Anon." The highli ght of my birthd ay wouldbe the confus ed look on the floris t's eyes when he delive red them.9 Laterthat week, Tony came in as usualand sat down at the bar. "What's wrongwith you? Where's that smilegone today?" I talked to him about... well, aboutpretty well everyt hing, money, the master's, my birthd ay, the lot. He sympat hized with me.10 Tony got up from his stool, and went over to talk to some of the others. Rememb er: The Salisb ury is rightin the heartof the city, so all the custom ers were in bankin g or insura nce or the stockmarket. Next day he turned up with cheque s to the valueof £20,000. "This is a loan for you to set up your busine ss. The only collat eralyou have is my trustin you that one day, you'll pay us back—if you can. And if you can't, too bad, that's the financ e busine ss for you. But I thinkyou will."11 I didn't say anythi ng for fear that I was goingto cry. What were the odds on anyone beingso nice?12 And the flower s? I redire ctedthem to my mum, and they arrive d for her on my birthd ay. She deserv ed them, don't you think?13 If you ask me, lookin g back afterall theseyears, you only need one or two breaks in your life to succee d. The fact that the rest is hard work doesn't matter, it's stillworthit.14 Aftera year workin g at The Salisb ury, I got a placeat the LSE, did my master's and founda job in an invest mentbank. I invest ed the £20,000, and sold out before the 2008 crash. I paid back Tony and the otherinvest ors, with ten per cent annual intere st, and set up my own firm. It exceed ed all my expect ation s and is stilla thrivi ng busine ss.15 Tony wroteme a thank-you note. He'd been in a car accide nt, and couldn't walk. The moneyI paid back wouldallowhim to adapthis houseso he couldmove around it in his wheelc hair. This is what he wrote:16 "Thirty-five yearsin bankin g, and I've nevermade a better invest mentthan the loan to you. You've repaid the moneywith intere st, and my trustin you and your honest y 100-fold. If you ask me, invest ing in people givesthe best return you can ever hope for."17 If you ask me, he's right. What do you think?依我看依我看，现实生活并没有人们想象的那么好。
