The Art of the Hustle 2 (Complete)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Despite being one of the richest men in the world, Trevor had a baby face so he didn't look a day older than thirty. Dressed as he was and accompanied by a punk kid, the two didn't look like they belonged shopping for high fashion.

Located in the upper level of the Pacific Centre Mall in downtown Vancouver was a high-end men's retailer called Harry Rosen. They sold apparel from suits to casual wear. Everything was expensive. Even a plain t-shirt was over a hundred dollars.

Trevor and Deon walked in the store and began to browse. They may as well have been ghosts. Nobody looked at them, nobody acknowledged them, and they felt as though they didn't belong.

"Have you ever been in this store?" Trevor asked.

"No, what are we doing here? I feel uncomfortable."

"Don't worry, I feel uncomfortable too. The reason why we're here is to learn a valuable lesson. Notice the way people are treating us in here."

"They're not treating us any way. No one has said a word to us."

"Exactly my point. Now let's watch how they treat other customers."

Trevor and Deon pretended to look at shoes meanwhile they were observing how the staff treated the other customers. They were nice and friendly will all of them. Most of the clientele were old, rich white guys. Trevor and Deon looked as though they were there to shoplift.

"I'm not immune to people's judgement either. I'm one of the richest people in the world, but still I'm treated like I don't belong among the elites. People look down on me because I'm young or because I have new money. Classism is the new racism. It's so ridiculous and that's not at all what I'm about. I mean, I hangout with you and you're broke as hell."

"Thanks."

"No offense. I'm just trying to make a point."

"Okay, so what's the lesson?" Deon asked.

"There are a few. First, never judge a book by its cover. You don't know how much value a person has just by looking at them. So treat everyone with respect.

"Second, in life, people may treat you a certain way. They are not picking on you or out to get you. This is very important. I had the same chip on my shoulder as you do and I used to get really upset for how people treated me. I wanted respect. I wanted people to think I was richer than I was, or smarter than I was. But now that I'm rich, sometimes I still get treated like a punk kid. I nearly got escorted off the property of the hotel I'm staying at because of the way I look. Is that fair?"

"That pisses me off."

"It used to piss me off too. But then I realized there's no sense having a chip on your shoulder. It won't do you any good in life. If you get upset, it's just a reflection of your own insecurity. Now that I have money, I don't care about how people look down on me for being poor. That insecurity is gone."

"What about me though? I'm not rich."

"Something can only bother you if you let it bother you."

"So I'm just supposed to ignore the haters? It doesn't feel good to be judged."

"I know, but it's just an unfortunate part of life. Nothing you can do about it. This leads me to my third and final point. The way people's brains work is that we chunk data to process information faster. We make snap judgements based on our past experience and cognitive biases. Most of the time we are right, some of the time we get it wrong.

"Take us for example. We are the exception to the rule, not the norm."

"What do you mean?"

"How often does a billionaire walk into a store looking like a twenty-five year old homeless person with a kid who looks like he robs people on the SkyTrain?"