Sara Grillo Caused Me to Write This.

Last week someone sent me a TikTok video. A man, about 30 years of age, speaking about work. More accurately, his disdain for work. His monologue would be surreal were it not so sad. Here was a well-educated, physically healthy, obviously affluent, attitudinally flawed, self-made “victim” of contemporary American society. As he proudly proclaimed his habit of making no more effort at work than was minimally required, I could not help feeling bad for him, but also wondering how many others of his generation viewed work through the same distorted lens.

 What Is Quiet Quitting?

It was only yesterday when I became aware of the “quiet quitting” movement. Am I the last to know about it? Here’s how Investopedia defines “quiet quitting:” 

“Quiet quitting refers to doing the minimum requirements of one’s job and putting in no more time, effort, or enthusiasm than absolutely necessary. As such, it is something of a misnomer, since the worker doesn’t actually leave their position and continues to collect a salary.” 

The TikTok video now made more sense. The young man’s perspective was shared by many. An actual movement.  

A Post That Was Special. But Shouldn’t Be. 

Yesterday, Presidents’ Day, Sara Grillo, CFA published a post that touched me. Sara is a proud woman. She is unashamedly proud of her country, proud of its many accomplishments, and proud its symbolic flag. Sara and I are like-minded.

 After reading Sara’s post, I started thinking about my good fortune of having been born in the United States, I also thought about the forces that have propelled me since childhood. I was raised in a family that had almost no financial resources, but that did possess an abundance of values. 

Hard work was a prominent feature of my childhood. My first formal job was working on Saturdays for Dave Shapiro, the owner of Dave’s Drugs, located in my hometown of Providence R.I. I would start work at 8am, and finish at 5pm. I cleaned the floors and stocked shelves. One day, Dave handed me two cans of Metrecal. "Can you rub the rust off of these?" After a concerted effort the rust was gone.

I loved working for Dave. My salary? $2. Not per hour, per day. Just before leaving for home at 5:00, Dave would hand me two one-dollar bills. It was such an exciting moment. I felt rich! And why not? $2 was 8X my regular weekly allowance of 25 cents. I’m not kidding. 

When I was 16, I went to work for a furniture upholstering company. My job was picking-up and delivering furniture.  I worked Monday thru Friday, after school, and all day on Saturday.  I drove a Ford Econoline van and worked alongside my high school classmate, Jimmy Martin. Over time, I learned that properly maneuvering heavy furniture is something of an art form. Jimmy and I carried many sofas down many narrow flights of stairs in the three-deckers that remain a common feature of Providence neighborhoods.

Once the school year ended, I got a job in a shoe factory. It may seem strange today, but back then, cities like Providence had robust manufacturing centers. For the princely sum of $1.60 per hour, I got to work on a rotary injection molding machine. 

 Standing on an elevated platform, every 45-seconds a steel food appeared before me. As the steel foot reached me, I picked up a canvas sneaker “upper” and placed it on the steel foot.

Next, with a tool in each hand that was shaped like a knife, I attached the upper to the steel foot. A small piece of metal protruded from the lower part of the tool. On each side of the “upper” was a “noose” made of tightly wound canvas threads. I would use the tool to “hook” the “noose.” It took quite a bit of strength to stretch the “noose” and attach it to the corresponding hook on the steel foot. Once each side of the canvas was affixed to the steel foot, my job was done. That is, until the next steel foot appeared.  

As the hours passed, my hands would hurt more and more. After a couple of weeks, they acclimated to the punishment that greeted them every 45-seconds. What I most remember about the shoe factory, however, was how hot it was at my station. The rotary injection molding machine emitted a great deal of heat. It was a constant 100-110 degrees while working that machine. A gritty and demanding environment.

After the shoe factory I had other hard jobs. I ran an industrial paper cutting machine. I was a shipper (10pm to 6am shift). I manufactured window shades. One summer I framed houses.  

These demanding jobs lit the fire of ambition. I desperately wished to elevate my status in life. And I did. I went to college. Went to grad school. Got an MBA. Started businesses. Innovated. Became a writer. A public speaker. A consultant to major companies. Wrote books. Traveled. Made a positive impact on the financial advisory profession. Improved financial outcomes for many retirees.  Built innovative systems for sales and marketing that attracted investment assets of more than $100 billion.

In 2010, I was part of a group from Boston University that visited Vietnam. Our group arrived in Hanoi. Over two weeks we made our way south, eventually reaching Ho Chi Minh City. Along the way we visited NGOs, Government enterprises, non-profits, and commercial businesses.  

Our final visit was to a shoe factory. Our group of 37 people was shown into an absolutely gorgeous, massive and very high tech- conference room.  We heard from representatives of the factory owner, a South Korean conglomerate. They graciously answered our many questions.

Then it was time to visit the factory. A mesmerizing site. The largest single story building I had ever seen. Spotless. Teams of employee dressed in different color jumpsuits. In a far distance, a sea of people in red. 5,000 in red. Another group, 6,000 strong, dressed in yellow Still more in blue. In total, 16,000 men and women working away in this impossibly clean “shoe factory.”  

At noon, 8,000 employees walk outside to eat lunch. Each worker is handed a tray that holds a perfectly balanced meal. At 12:30, the remaining 8,000 people take their turn to eat. At 6pm, the 16,000 employees of the day shift move out to make room for the 16,000 employees of the night shift. Virtually all leave the facility on bicycles or motor bikes. The entire experience still boggles my mind.

The employees working in that shoe factor were paid $5 per day. That year, the people of Vietnam were judged by polls to be among the happiest in the world. Makes sense. Just two years earlier, the 32,000 employees of the shoe factory earned between one and two dollars per day.

 Seared in my memory is my final image of Vietnam. A 5-year-old girl. An absolutely beautiful child wearing a white dress. Our bus arrives at the airport and parks. We begin to step off the bus. As we do, the little girl waits. She smiles broadly and then asks each of us for our plastic water bottle. Of course, everyone gives her an empty or near empty bottle. She places each in a bag next to her. It is 102 degrees. The little girl is alone. Her father had dropped her off hours before. She will stand here all day, and she will ask hundreds of people for their water bottles. Her family will sell them. And tomorrow, the little girl will again stand, and smile, and collect bottles.  

I’ m thinking now of a contrast. The well-educated, 30-something American man, the beneficiary of so many advantages, he who disdains hard work, and the five-year-old Vietnamese girl who knows nothing but hard work. Which of them is likely to have a happier life?

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Marcia Mantell, RMA®️, NSSA®️  Gary Mettler Tom Hegna Andy Panko, CFP®, RICP®, EA John Rafferty Moshe Arye Milevsky Sheryl J. Moore Ted Bernstein Michelle Richter-Gordon Jeff Woodard CFF® Sara Grillo, CFA  Massimo Young, CFA Curtis V. Cloke, LUTCF, CLTC, RICP John Stadtmueller Dr. Donald Moine Mari Adam, CFP®, MBA, CRPC® Kary Brownlee, CFP® Peter Nelson, FICF, LUTCF President of Nelson Insurance Advisors Bill Comfort, CSA, CLTC® Steven Lee, Ph.D. Derek Tharp, Ph.D., CFP®, CLU®, RICP® Lacey Shrum Orian Williams, JD, LL.M, CFP® Jermaine Chaney , MBA Ken Sadler Tyrone Clark Rick McClanahan Chad Baxter, CFP®, ChFC®, AWMA® Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. (He-Him) Noah Zuss Charles @James Wong Paikert Andrew Keshner John Manganaro Andy Sheen Mark Williams Jason Ray CFP® Focused on Retirement Income Jean Statler #annuity #retirementincome Mike Vietri Scott Perry Paul Tyler Ramsey Smith Bruno Caron Laura Dinan Haber Jim Nonnengard Pete Dunlap Maggie Wall Carole Nelsen Perchal Zachary Parker CFP®, CPWA®, MBA Andrew Large, CPWA® Mike Bogseth, CFP® Warren Fridy Adam Antoniades Mark Casady David Blanchett Wade Pfau Alex Murguia Michael Finke