Hard Work Pays Off

This is a wonderful story of the opportunity that still exists in our great country, the preferred destination for much of the world.

Actions Speak Louder than Words: A Case Study
Contrarian By: Sally C. Pipes 5.6.2008

A Contrarian column, as readers have come to know, is a relatively simple matter of refuting the latest foolishness from militant feminists and socialists, who are often the same people. In that cause, however, I have never attempted anything on the scale of Adam Shepard, author of Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream. So let me bring his story to your attention.

As a student at Merrimack College in Andover, Massachusetts, Mr. Shepard was force-fed books by pop-socialist author Barbara Ehrenreich. As he explains:

My story is a rebuttal to Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch, the books that spoke on the death of the American dream. With investigative projects of her own, Ehrenreich attempted to establish that working stiffs are doomed to live in the same disgraceful conditions forever. I reject that theory and my story is a search to evaluate if hard work and discipline provide any payoff whatsoever, or if they are, as Ehrenreich suggests, futile pursuits.”

To prove his point, Mr. Shepard started out literally from scratch, with a tarp, a sleeping bag, an empty gym bag, the clothes on his back, and a grand total of $25, which one could quickly spend at Starbucks. He set aside his previous contacts, his college education, and his credit history. For all practical purposes, his previous life did not exist, and he would not permit himself to beg. A train dropped him at a random place outside of his home state, where his goal was to become a regular member of society in 365 days.

That meant he would have a functioning automobile, live in a furnished apartment, save $2,500 in cash, and be in a position to improve his circumstances in school or business. In Charleston, South Carolina, where he first landed, the quest proved educational.

Mr. Shepard learned that, in addition to food and lodging, the homeless shelter run by Crisis Ministries deployed doctors, nurses, a legal team, social workers, and two psychiatrists. He also learned that “any work is better than no work,” and unlike many others accepted what he could find. For a time he worked hanging up baby clothes. One day he earned $24, only to find it whittled down to $14 from the various fees of the employment agency.

While others languished, Mr. Shepard learned how to pitch himself, and got hired by FastCompany, a moving outfit, doing brute physical work in which he had no experience, and for which he was not exactly suited. As a mover he endured injury, sickness, ridicule, and conflicts with colleagues. He also kept working and learned, as he put it, “to delay gratification” rather than reward himself with goodies. After only six months, Mr. Shepard was driving an automobile and had saved $2,514.36.