the worst decision ever...

So one day a boy is sitting down in an office in the business firm of one B. L. Moneymaker. He is excited and very hopeful. Thoroughly impressed by the men and women walking about in smart suits, talking, busy-looking...he couldn't wait to begin to work.

Before him sat Mr. Donaldson, a thick, sturdy looking man with hair only at the sides of his head. He was in charge of, among other things, new hires.

So the boy watches as the man looks at his degree and thumbs down his resume of college experience. After a minute, he set both of them aside and looked up at him.

"So you went to Harvard? Business and Economics?"

"Yes sir. It's been quite a ride."

"Got any experience in business operations, management, assessment...any of that?"

"I...We have been put through many labs on campus, debating and test-running market ideas and models to come up with better ones."

"How much is that curriculum costing these days?"

"Ah...it's pretty expensive. The course itself is about 90,000 over four years, and with the books and all, it's about another 3 - 4 thousand. Prices have been going up lately."

"God-damn. In my day I could have went to college for less than half of half of what you a paid. You must have resourceful parents."

"Yes sir, they helped me out a lot. I still haven't paid off about half of it, but it's motivation for me to work my hardest, whatever I'll be doing."

"So what you're saying is that you loaned money from friendly benefactors and third-parties to obtain a license that does not guarantee you work or the subsequent ability to finance said license. So you are now sitting on a debt with no way to repay it?"

"Ye...yeah."

The man looked him over before half-turning in his chair to face the wall behind him.

"You see that?" he said, pointing to the company logo behind him. "That is B. L. Moneymaker. We are a business that just started two years ago. It's been very rough. But one of the things we are trying to do is pave the way for a new economy that makes solid business decisions based on solid facts and observations. Not daredevil gambling and baseless hopes."

The man turned back into his desk and let out a sigh.

"Do you know the reason why we can't accept you here?"

The boy froze, becoming shocked, mortified, and distraught in an instant. The idea of rejection hit him so hard he could only let out a stammering 'no' before the man picked up his degree and waved it in the air.

"Because you have already made the worst business decision of your life, and you put it on your resume."