The Hobbyists

The Hobbyists 

Bill was an adventurous young man. He was what one would call a hobbyist. He lived on the edge of a small town in Nowhere, Texas. Bill was always chasing his next big dream. You know, the one that would make him rich, the one that would show everyone he was successful.

Bill’s first big adventure was a paper route. He was just a small young boy still in school. Bill just knew the paper route would make him a lot of money. But to a boy in school, what was a lot of money?

Bill only made twenty dollars a week and had to ride his bike all over town every day to deliver the newspaper. After a few years, Bill was getting nowhere and the paper route had just become something to do to pass the time. It became a hobby. After all, what is a hobby?

A hobby is something you enjoy doing. Sometimes you can make money at your hobby, and sometimes it cost you a lot of money. You should enjoy what you do, and it should be fun and relaxing. You can do a hobby by yourself or with friends.

Soon after Bill graduated high school, he started selling keychains that he handmade. Yes, in a small apartment that Bill lived in , he would sit at his coffee table and make keychains. Bill would buy all the pieces and put the keychains together. Then on Saturdays, Bill would go to the corner of Fifth and Elm and set up a small stand next to the lamp post to sell his keychains.

Sometimes Bill would sell eight or ten keychains in one day, then there were times he would not sell any Keychain. Bill decided to expand his little stand and borrowed some money from his mother to start making jewelry. First, he made earrings, then necklaces. Bill’s little stand was getting by, but not making any real money. It was time to move on.

 Bill decided to try opening a thrift store. Bill went to the auctions to gather up some merchandise and he would put his jewelry in the store too. 

Bill told everyone that friends would make him rich. But just like before, Bill's friends always wanted a discount or wanted it for free. After all, Bill had a store; he must be rich. Soon This became a hobby.

Bill kept on trying. He tried his hand at the Casinos. Bill was winning some, but spending more than he made. It did not take long for Bill to realize going to the Casino was just a hobby. Bill was never going to get rich.

Then Bill saw an ad for flipping houses. Like before, he borrowed some money. He bought a house to fix up. He did not have a clue as to what he was doing. And just like before, it had become just a hobby that cost Bill lots of money.

Bill took up stamp collecting and was quite good at it. After all, you just had to buy stamps and put them in a folder-type holder and pull them out and look at them every once in and while. Bill had his stamp collection out one day when Bill knocked his drink over and made a big mess on the table. Everything was damaged.

Bill took up bird watching. There were some pretty birds in a park near his house. A red cardinal, a few blue jays, and a lot of other birds were in the park. One day, someone turned out their dogs in the park and the dogs chased all the birds away.

Bill started a chicken farm in his backyard. Just a hand full of chickens

mostly for the eggs. Bill liked birds. The rooster got big and mean. One day, a cat got into the hen house and I guess you know the rest of that story.

Bill took up counting cars on the freeway that went by the house.

Bill sat on the porch for three days counting cars. He named them off as they drove by. A 85 GMC pickup, A 69 Camaro, A 93 Dodge Charger, and so on.

On the third day it started raining and rained all day. Bill quickly lost interest and did not want to do that anymore.

A friend told Bill about an ad in the newspaper; “How to get rich in five easy steps.” All you had to do was sell a product. Bill had some experience in this, and he had failed. Bill said, thanks but no thanks.

One day, Bill decided to be himself and hold down one job and tinker in his garage. But that did not keep Bill from having hobbies. There were different types of hobbies. Bill planted a flower bed in the back yard. No, it would not make any money, but the flowers were beautiful to look at and Bill enjoyed his time alone in the garden. It was a good feeling making the flowers grow where once there was nothing. One day, the neighbor's dog got into the flower bed and dug up all the flowers. Bill was so angry, he just planted grass back in that spot.

As you can see by now, Bill was into many things; most started as a way to make money, to get rich quick. But most of these jobs had turned into just a hobby and never took on any real shape. There was no meat on the bone, you could say.

One day Bill had a new idea just like a hundred times before. Bill found his next get-rich plan. Bill would buy and run a farm.

Bill borrowed money just like before. Bill had talked to his friends about running a farm. They all had ideas about it and how easy it was. But not one of his friends owned a farm.

 Bill started his farm with a hundred acres, twenty cows, and a small tractor.

This time Bill didn’t quit his real job. Bill soon found out that a farm was a lot of work. More than he wanted to put into it. And soon the farm was just an expensive hobby.

There must be thousands of hobbies out there. Maybe there is one for Bill; maybe there is one for you. When you find one, do it because that is what you love and you are passionate about, not because it is the next get rich thing on the market.

I guess Bill will always have the get rich ideas in his head. Maybe one day Bill will find a hobby he can stick with. I hope he does. Until that day, Bill keeps trying, but don’t quit your day job.