The Millionaire

When I got to Castro Street, instead of turning right on 24th, which I normally do, I made a left because my psychic sense told me to. And sure enough, just past 25th a young skinny pale guy with glasses was standing on the left side of the street with his arm up. I made a U-y and picked him up. I guessed him to be in his early or mid 20's. He wanted to go to the Caltrain station.

I said "So where are you going today?"

"To Mountain View, where I work. I work at Google."

"Oh, you work at Google?"

"Yes."

"Are you from another country?"

"Yes."

"Which country?"

"I'm from England."

"So you came here for the job at Google?"

"Well, first I went to school here for two years. And now I have been at Google for two years."

"So were you able to make any money with Google stock?"

"Yes. I was able to make about one million dollars."

"You did?"

"Yes."

"Wow. That's amazing."

"Hehe."

"So you're a millionaire."

"Yeah, I guess I am. Although I don't feel like one."

"You're a millionaire! I have a millionaire in my cab."

"And where are you from?"

"I grew up in Germany."

"And how long have you been here?"

"Eleven years."

"Did you come here for school?"

"No, I came here because I wanted to live here. I had a greencard that I had won in the lottery."

"Wow! That's very lucky. Winning a greencard in the lottery is kind of like being a millionaire."

"I know! It is, isn't it?"

We continued talking about his job at Google and about my old job at Macromedia, which I told him I had left after three years there. He asked me why.

"I left because I didn't want to be a cubicle drone anymore. I wanted to be the queen bee of my own life instead of a cubicle drone in someone else's vision. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean."

I asked him if he was planning on staying in America. He said yes. He said that he didn't have that much left to move back to, that he was losing touch with friends and colleagues in England, and that he was making new ones here. He also said that his parents didn't mind him being here. That's when I knew I had to share about my own experience with that.

"I am going to give you a word of advice, since I have been here for eleven years. Don't lose touch with all the people in England. Make sure that you stay close with your family and also with some of your friends. I have just recently noticed that I wasn't very close with anybody anymore, and I have been really working on reconnecting those relationships. I recommend you pay attention to that now because you might regret it later if you don't."

"Wow. Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it."

And then the young millionaire asked for the cab driver's phone number.