We Show At Our Best In Disasters

When we are forced to change, it makes us really showing at our best. We find the way, we see the bigger picture. Do you know what companies and governments really want from us? I have an idea and it’s amazing revelation!

Yesterday I got a call from local journalist. She insisted me to tell my story for their readers. As you maybe guessed, I promised to do so. Before the dusk I have a plenty of free time to think. Yet another good reason to live here!

So I was thinking, what could I tell the readers? That everything was just a good luck? That my reckless youth pushed me out to the world? Or that I didn’t find my wife or greater richness. All was gone. A penniless man returned to Arctic Circle.

Maybe now I am a rich person now, at least in some scale. Having a lot of assets is not the best part of being rich. Best part is to have tens of thousands of free money in your bank account. A money you can give for waitress as a tip if you like. A free money, so that you do something good with it. Funny thing, most of us think start thinking it after we have achieved our own financial freedom.

In 1995, my things were a whole lot different. I had no money for food, not even for my newborn baby. Poor baby, starving on his first years. I even had no car.

For you readers who are thinking, where would I need a car, do you know how much single reindeer cost? We have no public transportation.

Carrying 2–3 heavy shopping bag for 5 kilometers year after year and in winter season pulling the kid sitting in a sledge. I admit, reindeer would be perfect option. But poor as I was, well you know how exercises affects to human body. Do this three times a week and you have a good fitness program.

Technically I lived near the city center. That’s what the social workers said. When I need to buy clothes, I may need to travel farther. One pretty good clothing store was 102 kilometers to south-east. The day to go shopping is Saturday. On that day we need to get up early. Reindeer have first priority in highway. At high-noon they will block the roads, specially in summertime and believe me, sometimes there is a lot, A lot of reindeer blocking the road. On Sunday, most of the stores were closed. Couple of years ago Finnish government agreed to let retailers have their doors open on Sunday too.

But that was not all. I had a tens of thousands of euros in debts. When weeks followed each other, I stopped opening bills. Why should I even care? Most of the bills came from the tax office. Stupid me, I started business in my early days without thinking customers, markets, well basically anything. I just launched my business. I was more keen to design my company website than getting customers. I wish I would got some help to minimize the taxes. At that time I gave my estimation, how much money I will make this year. Then I need to pay taxes accordingly. My estimations were way over what I would get. But I did not know that back then. Months went by and I saw what was happening. At the time I thought estimations are fixed. I can not change once I gave it. Not without heavy paperwork. My fault. I should knew better.

Anyway, I didn’t have money to pay the bills. Outta sight, outta mind, right? Mailbox became my arch enemy and I became Don Quijote.

Lucky me, I still had a few friends. They supported me over the darkest moments.

– Think of this like, now you’re are on the bottom. You only have one direction to go and it is upward, they used to say.

I could not helped to think, if things would be like that, I would be laying in a crave waiting for resurrection.

The situation I had now, wasn’t totally my fault. I backed the loan to my friend who got fired. I would have made it through, if my business would have succeed. If I only would have more customers. Now thinking, it really was my fault. It was me who backed the loan. It was me how did not do my homework about marketing and selling. Why I wasn’t better prepared? How many people nowadays are struggling in this situation?

Worst thing in all of that disaster, was not being unemployed. Not even the fact I was penniless. The worst thing happened, when one and only credit organization declared me as an non-creditable person. Think of this. You are not able to rent a apartment in next five, A Five years! In Finland we have opposite system than in US. Here, if you have some markings in your credit details, you’re are non-creditable person. When you have paid the bill, marking can be marked as paid, but it won’t leave there before five years has gone. This happened me 20 years ago. Current legislation says, markings stays there three years (11.5.2007/527). Anyway now and then it means the person who has it, is trash people. For me it meant, If I ever could able to get a work again, I would need to hide this to stay in work. What do you think colleagues would say if they would know? Would they still trust me?

Those who have a mark in their credit details, still need to pay all the debts with interests. Of course. I understood it. If I have debts, of course I pay it back. Even the loan backed by me made sense. My friend got the money. Easy mathematics. But paying taxes for the money I never had,…

Well, there I was. I was unemployed and I had a family. Something needed to do, so I walked into social services office asking for help. I need to buy food for my newborn baby.

Social worker was twisting her eyeballs and giving me a lecture about the money. At that time I was sure Social Insurance Institution, known as Kela and social services had some secret love affair. As a third wheel I think labor unions, which were in closer intercourse with Kela. What a perfect love triangle! After begging, crawling and blackmailing, I got some food coupons with strict guides what kind of food you can and can not buy. It’s amazing, how very same techniques works for the kids and social workers. Remember kindergarten teachings and you are on your way to success.

At that time, business owner who ran down his business cause of bankruptcy or cause of unprofitable business, was punished by all those three organization. Business owner was seen as greedy little rich bastards. How he dare to go into bankruptcy and become unemployed? How he dare to do so for all those nice people working in the company?

As a penalty, all of those three organization denied all the financial help from me for the next six months. I was on my own. Well not exactly. I got some food coupons. 40 euros for week. They demanded me to sell my house and my car which I did not have. Luckily I did not own any reindeer. I still don’t know how in heaven I can prove for them, you own nothing?

I managed to get over that penalty period with my friends help. After that the money I got from Kela, was just enough for get by. But it wasn’t living, it was more like a hunger game.

Years passed by. Since then I have been in many kind of jobs. From factory worker to white-collar software developer. Mostly I liked physically exhausted factory work. I also got familiarized with the another kind of bosses and factories which I will tell more in my next chapters. Meeting those another kind of bosses, I started to think buttons in flap on the backside of the overalls were designed for efficiency reason.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, maybe you have seen those outfits in tv documents? In those films, some poor kids are playing on the field. When they got to go, they just squat down and click!, buttons opens. Small flap backside of the overalls falls down and they do their needs. Just like that. Fast and efficient. Close the buttons and you’re good to go. It may not be hygienic, but i will be efficient for sure.

This very same efficiency is the thing, companies and governments expects from you, my fellow human. What they really want from us, is our time.

When we sacrifice our time by washing our teeth, dentists are happy for time saved. Well, maybe not the private ones. When we eat healthy food, doctors are happy when we don’t bother them with our diseases. When we increase physical exercises, government thank you. They thank us to be able to work longer and pay taxes.

Did you know that Finnish government pays one million euros for each kids to get them educated? So I’ve been told. A One Million! No wonder they want us work longer. After working 20 years you have paid your invisible debt tp the government. After that everything government is getting is just a bonus.

As you see, time is the key to success. Once it is gone you can not get it back. Ever. Period.

When time goes by, we tend to remember things with more positive then they were. It’s a brains built-in security mechanism for us, humans.

I’m sure agree with me about that. Have you been in army? Maybe you have some good memories to carry with you?

Skiing in the wilderness with freezing -35C degrees weather. You have pulled heavy sledge whole day long, with just a couple of hours of sleep. Yet above of all that, you were commanded to watch your fellow men not to fall into sleep and freeze to death. You have learned to know, there were always some guy or guys who were able to fall in a sleep while skiing. Immediately, when you turned your head for a moment, they were laying down in a snow having a beauty sleep. Platoon leaders were laughing. — Everything is fine, when men are still complaining and swearing. When they stop doing that, you should be really worried.

Remember that kind of trips in army? Now those stories may sounds hilarious, but certainly they were not back then.

Before you share this example further, just a friendly warning. Please don’t open this Pandora’s box with Finns while drinking alcohol. It’s a black hole. After they reach the event horizon, nothing won’t escape from it. No, not even the thoughts which probably are not made of material. I you decide to do so despite my warnings, remember I did warn you!

See, over the time memories get positive feelings. You tend to repeat your mistakes over and over again. Maybe they were fun back then so why shouldn’t you?

Well, maybe you should try once more. If you can reduce the amount of mistakes in each iteration, you have just proven how modern, agile project management method works. If the amount of mistakes remains still the same, you have proven theory of madness, claimed by Albert Einstein. — Do the exact same thing in each time and still expect different results.

In this time game, people who have more debt, will lose more. They also don’t have so much iterations to pass through. They can not afford to use the time best for them. Instead they keep continuing same old habit. They keep working 8 hours a day, five days a week. They buy stuff to cheer up themselves. Worst of all, they may dig even a deeper hole if they keep continuing making more debt. When they are in debt, they need to work to get more money. It’s a never ending loop. I’m sure you got it, my fellow reader.

Maybe the reason for this lies in their lower education? This lack of education does not explain the problems among higher educated people. Do we have even bigger problem in our education systems?

Luckily for me, factory working career ended before it really began. Mostly because I met an another kind of factory boss. I was poor already and after being fired, I was even poorer. Still being fired was my magic moment even today. Without being fired, I could not find the idea what finally made me a rich man. Without being fired, this story would not be published.

My life have had couple of great ideas, which have carried me above the dark times. Over the recessions and financial storms. This idea was the best of them.