Your Choice-Rich or poor

By Bai Li ( 12 )

Why are some people so rich, like Bill Gates, while many others are so poor that they live on the streets? Why do some people drive shiny Mercedes cars while others can afford no car at all? The key to getting rich isn’t the lottery or the stock market, but simply working hard.
When I was walking today in downtown Calgary, I saw some people sleeping underneath a bridge. These people were smelly and wore dirty clothes. I wondered what was going on. So I looked around and saw a rehabilitation center, for homeless people. I asked a homeless person what was going on.
“We’re here ‘cause we ain’t got enough money.”
“So?”
“We need money to buy food, clothes, and get a place to live,” he said. “I dropped out of school in grade 4. No one’s gonna gimme a job now, not even McDonald’s.”
“So why is so many people lying out here on the grass?”
“Ye see, this is a rehab center for us. We can get food and water for free here. Isn’t that nice?”
“Well, I’m not sure. They don’t give you any place to sleep, do they?
“No, but I wish”
With this short conversation, I realized that if a person doesn’t work, he couldn’t get any money. The problem, however, is that everyone needs some food, water, clothes, and a place to live. All of them require a great deal of money. And the only way to get money (without getting into trouble) is to earn it somehow. And to get a good job in which you get paid more money, you need a good education: at least a university degree. Obviously, a grade 4 education isn’t going to help you get a job. You need to finish high school to even have a chance of getting a decent occupation.
Unfortunately, about 43% of Canadians drop out of high school before graduating grade 12. Most of those people get some job or another and live a low-quality life, but some have no job at all. For them, there is no way to acquire sufficient money to afford some food, clothes, and home. The only place for them is a homeless shelter. There, they can get food, water, and shelter for free. Unfortunately for them, all three of the basic needs are barely met. For food, they receive some cheap cornmeal and coke. For shelter, they get a few blankets, to live out in the streets.
They’re lucky to have even that, for the Canadian government is humane enough not to let those people starve to death. In some countries, such as Mexico, homeless people receive nothing at all from the government. Most of those people starve and die eventually.
Then, I walked away from the smelly hobos and into a very tall skyscraper. I wanted to see the view from the top floor. I went to an elevator and found it locked. Beside it, I saw a sign, saying:
“This building is the property of CIBC. Only workers of CIBC may enter and use this elevator. If you are interested in a job at CIBC, go to the main office to the left”
So I went to the main office to look at the job poster. It read:
“Beautiful office at 40 stories high, amazing wages at $100 per hour! Apply now at 403-123-4567. Need minimum PhD Degree.”
The job was great, except for the last sentence. Not that many people had PhD’s. To get such a degree, you must work extremely hard in school and university.
In conclusion, the most important factor to being rich is how much you work in school, university, and more importantly, in your job. The harder you work, the better lifestyle you get. The people with PhD’s worked very hard, so they deserved a wonderful life. The people in the homeless shelter, however, didn’t have to do any work at all, so they have a poor lifestyle. If you want a good life, work hard. Everyone has a potential to get rich. But only those who work hard actually achieve it. It’s your choice.

Calgary Canada