Side Hustles and Friends With Benefits

You see these nuggets? They are REAL. How do I know? Because I MADE THEM!!!

What are they? Thy are Nordic Gold. What’s Nordic Gold? I’ll explain later. Until then buckle up, we’re going for a ride.

DISCLAIMER: I don't like the term “Side Hustle”.

To me it conjures up an image of a group of guys in a smoke-filled pool hall, trying to get one over on a “mark”. Or maybe a card shark with a table on a street corner demonstrating his prowess at Three-Card Monte. But I understand “Side Hustle” has a certain sex appeal to it, so I’ll keep it.

A hobby with a paycheck

I prefer to think of the things we do “on the side” as a hobby with a paycheck. By the sheer fact that it is a “side” hustle it means it is not our primary means of survival. In other words, our “day job”. Many of us work our side gigs because it’s something we are passionate about. We write, we sculpt, we tutor, we help, we create. You get the idea. And our goal is to exchange our product or service for some form of currency.

This article is about how I recently was given a gift, I could never have dreamed about. And it all came to me as a result of one of my “side hustles”. Now we are back to the nuggets, shown above.

As I said before the nuggets are Nordic Gold. They are not real gold, but an alloy that is made to look like gold. They are roughly 89% copper, 5% aluminum, 5% zinc and 1% tin. This alloy is used to make coinage in parts of Europe. Instead of coins, I make nuggets. And I sell these nuggets to jewelry makers and other crafts people. I have customers across North America, in the UK and in France.

It has always been my belief that if you provide someone with something of value the economic biosphere will reward you. Most people call this Capitalism. But for me it has always been important to provide that little of something extra. Think of it as Capitalism Plus. After all, what goes around comes around. Am I right?

Recently though I was rewarded in a way I could never have dreamed of.

One of the people I source my raw materials from is a retired auto worker. I’ll call him “Ron”. I would never have met Ron, had it not been for my nugget business. It’s a pleasure knowing Ron, and each time I stop by to get my stuff we always chit-chat about this and that. He’s friendly, cordial and fair and I am the same. It’s great knowing Ron. But that’s really the extent of our friendship. I buy his stuff and he takes my money.

Let me repeat. I never would have met Ron had it not been for my side business.

Anyway, the other day my wife was shopping for a new car. For me this activity ranks right up there with getting a root canal. After picking out a car online we made an appointment at local dealership. we showed up there and they tried a bait and switch. we were out of there in 20 minutes.

Needless to say, we were unhappy. Actually, it was the wife the wife that was unhappy. I was secretly please the balance in my checking account wasn't going to drop like a whore’s drawers. But I needed to do something. Her car has 190K, and a host of issues.

Over lunch my wife was really stressing, and I needed to make this right. So, I gave Ron a call. I figured maybe he could recommend a reputable dealer.

Ron “knows a guy.”

Not only did Ron recommend a reputable dealer, but he also said I should speak to “Jeff” and then ask for the X-plan. This gave us a hell of a discount right off the bat. A few hours later my wife signed the papers for her new car, and she takes delivery in a couple of days.

That one phone call saved me a week's pay.

Benjamin Franklin said, “A penny saved, is a penny earned.” If that is so, then I just earned about 2% of my yearly income.

Is there a moral to this story?

Yes, yes, yes!!! Be nice to people. That niceness will pay dividends and sometimes in ways you can't imagine. Never…never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that when I started my nugget business, I would meet someone who would help me in such a way.

Some people consider Capitalism a zero-sum gain.

If someone wins, then someone loses. I disagree.

Here is an example of how two people who met through commerce were able to help each other. I may never be able to return Ron’s favor in full measure. But I will continue to do business with him, and I will continue to help others in whatever way I can.

If you’ve done something like the above or had something similar happen, please let me and everyone else know.

I’ll leave you with this tidbit of advice. If you have a side hustle, and even if you don't, treat people fairly, with respect and be kind. You just never know how it will come back to you.

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