Everyone faces moments like that in life.

You know, moments when you hurried as best you could, only to find an endless line already stretching out before you.

It might be a much more familiar scene for us to turn away, blaming ourselves with thoughts like, 'Ah, I'm too late,' or 'The opportunity is already gone.'

But here, 16-year-old Freddie made a slightly different choice.

"Dad, I want to use my head to find my way."

It was around the time the scorching heat of summer vacation was about to begin.

Freddie dropped a bombshell on his father. He said that this summer, instead of relying on his allowance, he would earn his own money.

His father looked at him with a worried gaze, emphasizing just how difficult it is to find a job in these times of economic downturn. But Freddie was confident.

"Don't worry, Dad. Even when the world is overflowing with work, there are people who can't find a job, and there are others who, no matter how hard it is, somehow manage to find their place.

I want to be someone who knows how to use their head.

Freddie's words might be a question directed at all of us.

When faced with a problem, are we the kind of people who blame the environment and give up, or are we the kind of people who use our 'heads' to find a niche within it?

Despair at the end of the line, the twist that began there

The next morning, Freddie headed to 42nd Street as written in the job advertisement.

The appointment time was 8 o'clock. He arrived 15 minutes early, but 20 boys were already standing in a long line in front of him. He was 21st. Objectively speaking, it was highly likely that Freddy's turn would not come. After all, it was a game that ended if the boss simply chose someone from the 20 people ahead of him. An ordinary person would have sighed at the end of the line or given up and gone back, but Freddy was different. He 'grasped' the situation and immediately found a 'solution'. Freddy took a piece of paper from his pocket and began to write something. Then, he politely approached the secretary and said, "Please pass this memo on to the boss immediately. It is very important." "Boss, I am 21st. Do not make a decision until you meet me." The note, having passed through the secretary's hands, was placed on the boss's desk. Upon seeing that short sentence, the boss burst into laughter.

How to make an impression among countless competitors, and how to stimulate the other party's curiosity to delay their decision.

It seems that at the age of 16, Freddy already instinctively understood psychology and strategy.

What was the result? Naturally, Freddy took the position.

This is because the boss wanted not just a boy who was good at his job, but a talent who knew how to solve problems.

The reason Freddy was able to get the job was not because he was lucky.

Instead of standing at the end of the line staring only at the back of the person in front of him, he pondered, 'How can I walk straight into the boss's mind?'

Our lives are similar. Certifications, scores, qualifications... We always stand in the same line as everyone else, desperately waiting for our turn.

However, the world sometimes opens its doors first to those who possess the 'wisdom' to render the order of the line meaningless, rather than to those who know how to stand in line well.

"Using one's head" is not about accumulating grandiose knowledge.

It is the courage to see through the essence of any problem and create a path that others cannot see.

It is the confidence to throw out one's own note without succumbing to the number 21.