Prologue • Pay It Forward
Sweet Success • The Albert Sweet Story
Prologue • Pay It Forward
Albert Sweet and his friend Herman Kastner both decided it was time for a change… a big change. Neither wanted to remain behind in the city where they had grown up together. And Al certainly didn’t want to spend another summer caddying, or bussing tables, or assembling television sets for OK Radio. His studies at CCNY had just about run their course. Why not do something different, something challenging? Why not drive to California?
Whatever their parents thought of the idea, it didn’t matter. The boys were going to do it. The two of them packed up their things, got a bit of a jump on summer, and headed out in Herman’s 1940 Dodge. It was a good car. Neither had any doubt it could make the 6,000+ mile round trip.
Prior to this time, Al had never ventured outside the state of New York. He had grown up in New York City, in The Bronx. And in The Bronx, life could get very competitive. You had to be smart to survive. Luckily for Al, his family lived on the right side of the river… you see, it was generally accepted that those who hailed from the other side of the Hudson weren’t nearly as bright. Al takes up the story…
Al: It was the culture growing up in The Bronx to believe that all the hicks lived across the river, the Hudson River… all the people that weren’t too smart. That was the culture. However, once we started driving through the various cities across the country, I discovered it wasn’t true at all, because everyone we met turned out to be really nice.
One gentleman in particular encountered by Al and Herman on their cross country journey stood out in their minds. The two young men were about a week out, nearly a third of the way toward their West Coast destination, when things suddenly took a turn for the worse…
We could see steam chugging out of the radiator. We thought, “Oh no, we’ve got a hole in the radiator. We’re not going to get very far this way.” So we limped into the outskirts of the nearest town and began looking for some place where we could get the car fixed. And there was a guy at a gas station that was just closing up. So we asked him what he thought might be going on with the car.
As it turns out, the city they happened to find themselves in was Indianapolis, Indiana. And the date was May 29, 1950 – the day before the famed Indianapolis 500. In fact, at that very moment, preparations for the big race were well under way on the west side of town. Looking around, it appeared as if they had stumbled into some kind of a ghost town. The gas station owner was certain the two young travelers weren’t going to be able to locate anyone else who could fix their car…
He said, “Well, you’re not going to find anybody open. Tomorrow’s a big holiday.” Then he paused a moment and said, “I think I can help you. Leave the car here and I’ll work on it tonight.” We then mentioned that we didn’t have any idea where we could stay, and he told us he had a relative with a rooming house close by. So now we had a place to stay.
Impressed by the man’s seeming generosity, and without any other viable options, Herman and Al quickly agreed to leave the car there overnight for the man to fix. But for Al, they may have agreed to the plan a little too quick…
Now I broke a big rule that day – you always ask somebody how much something is going to cost before you make a deal.
Early the next morning, Al and Herman made their way back to the station. The car was parked out front in perfect working order. The smiling station owner came out to greet them.
I took a deep breath and asked, “How much do we owe you?” He looked at both of us and said, “This one’s on me… on one condition.” And I thought, “Uh oh, here it comes.” Remember now, I was supposed to be the sharp one from The Bronx. Then he continued, “The next time you have an opportunity to help somebody that really needs assistance, you do it.”
Al immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Actually, the repairman’s challenge served to simply reinforce something that had already been taught to him by his dad and other relatives – people should always be prepared to help those in need. It was a concept Al knew from the Torah and the Bible. This event turned out to be a very important experience which would ultimately have a significant impact on Al throughout his life. Not only would he never forget it, but in the days and years to come, he would always make an effort to live by it.
Driver Johnnie Parsons was declared the winner of that year’s shortened Indianapolis 500. The race had to be called early due to rain, and Parsons was only allowed to complete 138 of the usual 200 laps. Al and Herman resumed their cross country trek in their newly repaired Dodge toward their California destination; specifically Southern California – the home of Hollywood.
Al couldn’t have known it at the time, but Hollywood would eventually become the location for some of his greatest financial successes. Not only that, but precisely fifty years following Al and Herman’s Memorial Day experience in Indianapolis, the concept of helping others in need, without expecting anything in return, would become the subject of a big Hollywood movie titled Pay It Forward featuring Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, and young Haley Joel Osment.
Despite the bad rap Hollywood has received over the years, maybe it wasn’t such a bad place after all…