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  14

  The Successful Person Is Capable of Moving On from Multifaceted Calamities with Humor and Grace

  I apologized to Sam and JonPaul for taking advantage of them with the munchies situation. They were really happy when I busted out the money we’d earned and split it into three even shares rather than paying them hourly wages. It was only fair: we were a team.

  I took freshly baked cookies and brownies to the manager of the motorcycle repair garage to apologize for having loaded his Dumpsters.

  On the way home, I noticed a little bakery downtown that had just opened and didn’t seem to be doing very well. I made an appointment to see the manager and told her about my former campus munchies business. I watched her eyes light up. Then I introduced her to Goober, and she hired him to do the food runs. He needed a job after all that money he’d lost playing poker.

  I was surprised, but … I guess the blind pursuit of money and power really is bad for a person. Who knew?

  Well, everyone, I guess, except me.

  Despite the fact that all my ideas turned into poo on a stick, everyone around me farts gold dust these days.

  Sarah’s not mad at me, even though I suspect she still thinks I took too much credit for her new business, which, I might point out, landed her a part-time job at the hair salon.

  Katie’s not talking to me, but that’s nothing new. She does nod at me in the hall. I take that as progress. And she’s going to have to hire some tutors to handle all her students.

  I learned from Sarah and Katie that it’s always better to make money with your own ideas than to sponge off others.

  JonPaul and Sam and Renee the security guard are jewelry-making partners. They’re talking about going to art fairs this summer to sell their goods. JonPaul and Renee are the creative side, and Sam takes care of supplies and inventory and their website.

  They taught me that successful people stick to what they’re good at and what makes them happy.

  Daniel, that sly dog, took what used to be poker time and started giving skating lessons to little kids. The team worked out a deal with the rink; they teach the itty-bitty skater classes in exchange for discounted ice time. Daniel says the team’s reactions have gotten really sharp because of how fast they’ve had to learn to stop and catch the toppled toddlers.

  They taught me that hobbies and jobs can have some overlap; and that maybe, if you like what you do, you don’t need to blow off steam.

  No one has even bothered to thank me for starting them out. I’m glad I don’t have their karma, because that kind of ingratitude is going to come home to roost someday. Well, I’m rising above it; that’s what great men do. Rise above adversity. Besides, I’m too busy to obsess about the unfairness of life, because I’m working all the time.

  I work at Amalgamated Waste Management from twelve-thirty to five p.m. on Saturdays and school holidays. ’Nuff said. It’s not that bad. Mostly because I think I fried whatever sense receptors in my nasal cavity used to allow me to smell. I think I’ll ask to stay on even after I’ve worked off my bill. An honest job is a great thing, I’ve discovered.

  I work from five-thirty to nine-thirty p.m. on Saturdays and school holidays at the storage facility, cleaning out abandoned spaces, inventorying items for sale and dividing the rest into resale, recycle and refuse.

  It’s pretty good money. Nowadays I work hard and there’s nothing, ab-sew-loot-lee nuh-thing, smart about what I do. But maybe eighth graders weren’t meant to be world-class moguls.

  I’m as confident as ever that success is still in my future. A guy like me can’t help but excel in this life, even if I’m taking a break from the fast track right now.

  I never did manage to ask Tina out on a date. I was at work the night of the dance. She still doesn’t know I’m the best possible boyfriend material in the whole entire school.

  I have new ideas for how to fix that. I just know that the very next time I come up with a plan to get her attention, it’s going to work.

  Gary Paulsen is the distinguished author of many critically acclaimed books for young people, including three Newbery Honor Books: The Winter Room, Hatchet, and Dogsong. He won the Margaret A. Edwards Award given by the ALA for his lifetime achievement in young adult literature. Among his Random House books are Liar, Liar; Woods Runner; Lawn Boy; Lawn Boy Returns; Notes from the Dog; Mudshark; The Legend of Bass Reeves; The Amazing Life of Birds; The Time Hackers; Molly McGinty Has a Really Good Day; The Quilt (a companion to Alida’s Song and The Cookcamp); How Angel Peterson Got His Name; Guts: The True Stories Behind Hatchet and the Brian Books; The Beet Fields; Soldier’s Heart; Brian’s Return, Brian’s Winter, and Brian’s Hunt (companions to Hatchet); Father Water, Mother Woods; and five books about Francis Tucket’s adventures in the Old West. Gary Paulsen has also published fiction and nonfiction for adults. His wife, Ruth Wright Paulsen, is an artist who has illustrated several of his books. He divides his time between his home in Alaska, his ranch in New Mexico, and his sailboat on the Pacific Ocean. You can visit him on the Web at GaryPaulsen.com.

  Here’s another terrific story about Kevin

  Available from Wendy Lamb Books

  ISBN: 978-0-385-74001-2

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Other Books by This Author

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Foreword

  Chapter 1 - The Successful Person Can Make Something from Nothing

  Chapter 2 - The Successful Person Has Vision That Others Lack

  Chapter 3 - The Successful Person Is a Creative Thinker

  Chapter 4 - The Successful Person Knows That Hard Work, Although Not Necessarily His Own, Is the Cornerstone of His Achievements

  Chapter 5 - The Successful Person Is a Carpe Diem Kind of Guy

  Chapter 6 - The Successful Person Finds Gold in What Others Consider Dross

  Chapter 7 - The Successful Person Knows When to Revise and Expand His Plans Quickly

  Chapter 8 - The Successful Person Knows He Is a Force for Good in the Universe

  Chapter 9 - The Successful Person Is Not Afraid to Admit That He Is Easily Intimidated by a Show of Force

  Chapter 10 - The Successful Person Knows That the Bigger the Problem Seems, the More Extraordinary the Solution Will Be

  Chapter 11 - The Successful Person Is Frequently Misunderstood and Unappreciated

  Chapter 12 - The Successful Person Knows His Limits

  Chapter 13 - The Successful Person Is Steadfast in the Face of Disaster, Can Cope with Multiple Crises at One Time and Learns from His Mistakes

  Chapter 14 - The Successful Person Is Capable of Moving On from Multifaceted Calamities with Humor and Grace

  About the Author