Today is my pal A.C.’s birthday. I think it’s worth blogging about because A.C. has had an extraordinary life, or rather, what he’s done with his life is extraordinary.
We grew up together in a small town in Mississippi where the biggest excitement was driving across the Mississippi River bridge into Louisiana and going to this dive bar called PJ’s Last Chance. PJ’s sold to minors, and our circle of friends kept them in business.
A.C. worked at McDonalds and was an honor student. He went on to college, as did I. I went to a private liberal arts school to study dead white guys like Milton and Chaucer (so relevant to any career, yes?) while A.C. studied computers at a state university. This was the early eighties, and I just thought Andy was, like, you, know, soooo terribly geeky to study something so gross like that. What was he going to do? Repair the things? Andy always used to tell us (me and our other friend who is now a fabulous fashion designer), “Computers. They’re cutting edge, man.” Uh-huh. So were leg warmers and shoulder pads.
Turns out, he was right, and while me and our fashion designer friend spent our twenties working meaningless jobs and having way too much fun at night, Andy got on the fast track early. I’m still not sure what the hell the boy did with computers, but I know he wasn’t repairing them. Then the nineties came along and he got involved with the Internet. I had to ask him six or seven times exactly what he did, and I still can’t tell you other than that it was niche market stuff (I think). Anyway, long story short, he sold the company a few years back and retired in his mid-thirties.
But wait, the story doesn’t end there. A.C. and his lovely wife (who should be nominated for Sainthood, when she was working, she taught disabled children who were mentally challenged. Compare that to me; I’ve spent my career working with socially challenged execs.) have devoted their post retirement career to saving the environment. And they are serious about it. They have started an organization which buys up large ranches or chunks of property and divides them into small cooperatives to save the land from over-development. Or something like that. It’s real altruistic stuff, but business savvy, because there is the potential to make money, as it is land after all, a good investment no matter how you look at it.
I remember when this guy worked at McDonald’s and lived in a trailer. He’s made his own fortune, and now he’s giving back. He doesn’t own planes or boats (though I wish he did, that would be fun for me). It does my heart good to know that I ran around with someone who has not only good intentions, but good follow-through.
Whenever anyone asks me what I’d do if I were suddenly rich, I think of A.C., and what he’s done. Then I give them a truthful answer: I’d buy lots of Prada and stay in five star hotels where I’d pay people to rub my feet and shit like that. Plus I’d hire a cabana boy. Just for the fun of having one on my payroll.
Happy b-day, old pal.
