Frank Boland's blog

If you were to become a “rich man” would you live differently than you currently do … as in showcase your wealth?  Most of us could never imagine that a friend could be one of the richest persons in the world … and that we would never know it.  A person’s persona can conceal --- or show --- a great deal.  Our impression of people is often based on their outward appearance.  Since most of us have friends that are like ourselves, we believe they are ordinary people.  But sometimes they are not.   

As I came up out of the subway in New York City, I realized I was at the beginning of Wall Street.  Looking up the street I was absolutely awed to see the lineup of limousines.  In Boston at the time there were no limousines.  There –on Wall Street- they seemingly were everywhere!  To a poor Irish kid from Boston the cars, and their chauffeurs, represented great wealth … wealth I knew that had been created in the stock market.  It was the fall of 1965 and the market had been going up since the end of World War II …  close to 20 twenty years.  And I was 21. 

The other night I entered a Cheesecake Factory restaurant and found myself smiling to no one in particular as my mind drifted back to over twenty years ago.  I recalled sitting at the Prime Rib in Baltimore with David Overton, founder of The Cheesecake Factory restaurant chain, and his Chief Financial Officer Bill Kling.  We had a large round table that would probably have seated eight people.  The reason for the large table was that we were about to sample eight to ten dinners ... plus desserts.