...I was an employee on the 6th floor of the building at right. I worked at a San Diego-based financial services company with about 500 other employees. 90% of the company was owned by the founder, who had started the place 30 years earlier, as a one-man operation in an office behind a Chinese restaurant. These days, he is in his early 60s and is a billionaire who owns the largest piece of property in San Diego's richest neighborhood - which is also one of the richest neighborhoods in all of the United States.Now, not too long ago, I would have considered his achievement a perfect example of a vigorous and thorough fulfillment of the American Dream. Today, however, I define the American Dream - or at least my personal version of it - a bit differently. In a nutshell, I think the Dream is less about earning vast riches and more about living the type of life you really want to live. Of course, if I read that last sentence in five years, I'll probably be shaking my head at my naivete once again.
At this point in my life, however, I'm ready to leave my current job as a writer of marketing materials like brochures and newsletters and advertisements. I'm going to start my own t-shirt company, designing and distributing politically themed shirts from my hometown of Ocean Beach, California, U.S.A.
