How two persons with similar nicknames could come into some alignment to allow for some kind of decent comparison, in the grand scheme of fate or coincidence. Simply for comparison because both took separate routes and thus led lives so diametrically different from each other. And thus, maybe the similarity in nickname remains the only viable connection.
We as complete family migrated to the US in 1980. Though not solely for economic reasons, but still largely because we wanted a different life. The availability to move to the US as immigrants made the choice more facile.
Because of the presence of other family members, we ended up landing in the San Francisco area, where we commenced our relocation process. Of looking for suitable housing accommodations. And of course, of jobs to take care of financing our stay.
As expected the path toward prosperity and contentment was strewn with daunting challenges from all quarters. For one, San Francisco we learned was essentially a tourist destination. Thus, the limited economic opportunities centered on that one essential driver of prosperity. Hospitality and hotel places and food services businesses increased and prospered. They thrived becoming the main source of employment for many immigrants. Union jobs to start a new life in a strange environ. And for me since I had some banking experience, I thought I could segue to what I thought would be a more promising path. Only to learn that renumeration-wise entry-level banking jobs could not compare well with union jobs which were plentiful.
In short, I ended up in the hospitality business employment till it was time to retire. Admittedly, going this route still enabled the family to live the American dream in a decent way. But could it have been more or better? That is the question.
Atoy on the other hand had a different experience, though going through the same timeline. He had come here as a youthful high school graduate, together with some other youthful relatives from the old country. They however landed in places closer to Silicon Valley, ground zero for the tech revolution. And job opportunities necessarily were clustered in that field.
So he got himself employed in a small start-up company as draftsman. That was the age of small start-ups that could suddenly blossom into gargantuan companies, like the likes of Apple and Microsoft. He was sent to some schooling in drafting to improve his native skillset. Under this set-up he labored, honing his skills, and holding on to stock options that became part of pay packages during that time.
The time came when that small start-up company with its creation of a specialized app was bought by a bigger and richer tech company which found the start-up's product useful to be integrated into its own product. Suddenly then all those in the small start-up became millionaires parlaying their little shares into millions of dollars.
And thus another success story to be reckoned and listed in the history of Silicon Valley, one more sample among nameless others.
One cannot then help but make comparisons. What if we had instead started work in and around Silicon Valley rather than in the San Francisco Area? Could we not have been swept in the same deluge that brought those into the same lap of fortune? It takes only for one to be in the right place for fortune to visit. Luck is better served if one is also in the right place.
One itchy question that will remain unanswered.
