When you think there isn’t anywhere lower to fall, that’s when you realize that the pit is bottomless.

Reality was hard to bear.
Regardless of the countless applications I submitted, none of them came back without the word “rejected“.
I mean, I would totally get it if these jobs were Girls who are 10 out of 10 –
But look, is there anything more ridiculous than that:

Precies¹ – Not even McDonald’s would allow me to work there.
One could say, of course – that I had no previous experience at being a slave, so I couldn’t blame them.
“Oh boy, am I gonna laugh about this in 10 years” – I said

Anyway;
Achievement unlocked: Society declared me useless.

Since my day started out well by reaching the bottom of the kegs, I figured it’s time to turn to my favorite hobby again.
Namely: Gathering stuff people don’t need, but still have.
That’s when I saw something I couldn’t believe it’s there:
An entire collection of vinyls, more than a hundred of them.
I immediately reached out to the owner:

“Good afternoon, I saw you wanted to get rid of that Vinyl pack, and I would gladly liberate you from its possession if it’s still there.
Let me know the time when it’s the most comfortable for you and I’ll be there.
Yours sincerely,
Erik“

These sentences charm like the melodies of a Siren.
Turns out it was a home run, I was the first one who wanted to take them.
All I needed was an address.

Apparently the distance tracker on the site was faulty, and I had to cycle 70 minutes instead of the expected 20.
I had two options to look at this:
A) 2 hours of massive struggling.
B) An opportunity to take a small trip and explore the country, so I could score a piece of History.
It took about a second to pick.

In 3 minutes I was already on my way, with google maps in my hand and pop music in my ears.
Not even the strongest headwind could slow my pace, the mind just kept whispering:
“Free Vinyls, Free Vinyls“
Since the Sun was up and there was no rain, the journey was anything but draining.
I could admire the marvelous brick houses, ponds and parks as I passed them.
“How can a country be this amazing?”– I kept thinking.

Roughly an hour later when I pressed the doorbell a sweet lady appeared,
whom I greeted with a broad smile as she brought out the disks.
“Here they are” – She handed me a package filled with the legends of the 20th century.

It even included Brad Pitt with a mustache:

After packing them in, I figured it’s a not that easy to navigate my way through the Dutch traffic, since the extra weight in the back is something I forgot to calculate.
Becoming an echte² Dutch might take a few years, but these baby steps will eventually transform me.
After all, bikes for the Dutch are what trees are for nature.
If they vanish, so will you.

Luckily the wind kept its course, so I had some help from the back.
The moment I got home and poured out the treasure on my desk, I noticed the price tags:
-14€, -15€, -7€
Multiplied with the amount of disks (~100) – It was an enormous wealth.
This set of vinyls alone was worth more than a 1000€; at least back then.

Regardless of how the day started, my attitude brought me out of darkness. I might have been rejected from McDonald’s, but the trip on the bike charged me up again.

Conclusion: Not once should we let our circumstances weight us down and prevent us from doing all we can.
Just put in the work, and the wind will eventually start to push you from the back.

Take care,
Erik

10.04.2019 – Day 79

[Dutch Dictionary]
Precies ¹ – Exactly
Echte ² – Real