Something from nothing

Szczecin known and historical ®




On Pucka Island in Szczecin, among the bushes and old trees, lies the remains of an old fishing boat that utilized to be the pride of my uncle Staszek. This boat, although now rusty and covered with moss, witnessed many adventures during its years, as well as the secrets that uncle hid from the world.

Uncle Staszek was a colorful figure, like from stories of old times. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was a fisherman, but not an average 1 – his boat, named by him “Golden Fish”, sailed across the Baltic, and the catches were just a pretext for greater interests. Uncle had a flair for trade, and his main clients were Swedes. After each cruise, he returned with nets full of cod and herring, but the real profit was hidden in what he was selling for dense money to Scandinavian merchants – illegally acquired goods that were at the time on the weight of gold. It was said that his uncle could arrange anything from amber to western perfume, and the Swedes paid him in hard currency, sometimes even in gold.
When fresh times began in the 1990s, Uncle Staszek abandoned the sea and took care of the cicciarity. The boat, which utilized to be his second home, docked permanently on the island of Pucka, where it slow collapsed. But Uncle did not forget his “Golden Fish”. In a tiny cabin, under a table that erstwhile served to eat simple fishing meals, he kept his treasures. In crystal ashtrays, which looked like average bibelots, he hid gold – tiny bars and coins he collected over the years of trade with the Swedes. These ashtrays were his secret, and he himself joked that it was his “pension for a rainy hour”.

Uncle Staszek taught me a lot about business. It was from him that I learned how to buy cheaply, and to sale more expensively – the real art that he mastered to perfection. I remember sitting together on the “Golden Fish” board, and he told me how he was negotiating with the Swedes, how he sensed erstwhile individual was willing to pay more, and how he never fell for the incorrect opportunity. “Remember to always know the value of what you have in your hands, but never show that you care,” he said by drinking tea from a metallic cup. These lessons have stayed with me forever, and they have frequently helped me in my life erstwhile I started my own small business.

Uncle Staszek never liked to brag about his wealth. He lived modestly, and his past was nothing but gossip. It was said that in the best times he had contacts with smugglers, and even with people from the West who came to Szczecin for “Polish gold”. The boat on the island of Puck became a symbol of those days—a time erstwhile his uncle was king of the Baltic, and his “Golden Fish” sailed across the sea, carrying not only fish, but besides secrets that made him a legend in the family.
Today, looking at these rusty remains, it's hard to believe that this boat erstwhile witnessed specified stories. But I know that Uncle Staszek, wherever he is now, smiles at the thought of his crystal ashtrays and gold that may inactive be waiting to be discovered in the shade of the old table on the “Golden Fish”. And I, thanks to his teachings, always remember that in business, the most crucial thing is to have a head on top and know how to make something valuable out of nothing.

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