By Neal Wooten
You know how you occasionally meet someone who immediately catches your attention and pretty soon you’re smiling whenever you get near that person? No, me either. I’m kidding. When I worked at the newspaper in Montgomery, I met such a unique individual.
His name was Ronnie Thompson and he was around my dad’s age. And like my dad, he must have known a million jokes. But his sense of humor is not what really sticks in my memory. Ronnie had an entrepreneurial spirit and was constantly coming up with get rich schemes.
He even held several patents. I remember one was for a sofa/pool table combination for people who love to play pool but don’t have a room big enough in their house or apartment. Insert Ronnie’s invention. Just slide the sofa away from the wall and the pool table flips up from the back and you’re in business.
And speaking of business, he had a million ideas for different kinds of businesses, ranging from the simple to the unbelievable. At one time he owned a shoppers guide, which made money from advertisements, and he had vending machines, mostly gumball, all over town. Once he said to me, “The trick is to find something that makes money while you sleep.” Pretty smart.
Don’t get the wrong idea. Ronnie’s story was not what you might call a real success story, but it wasn’t for lack of trying new things. In fact, his decision making was almost always wrong, and the opportunities that got away are what I really remember about him.
Once he told me this story. He had gotten out of the Marine Corp in the mid-50s, had gotten married, and took a job at one of those huge department stores that used to be found in every town in the USA. There was a small restaurant at the end of the shopping center where you could get a hamburger, fries, and drink, and change back for a dollar.
Being on a budget, he and his wife ate there a lot and got to know the owners, another young married couple. One day his friends gave him some advice. “Ronnie, you need to get you one of these burger franchises. They’re only $1500 and we think it’s going to be huge.”
Ronnie laughed and pointed to the big department store where he worked. “No my friend. I don’t think so. Now there’s where the money is, in those big stores. In two years I’ll make department head. In five years I’ll be floor manager. In 20 years I could be he store manager. Trust me; that’s the future. Besides, that big yellow M looks silly.”