Today (3/15) is “National Shoe the World Day” and I want to talk about my favorite fictional shoe salesman– Al Bundy. 

Al was the star of the sitcom “Married… with Children” . He used to be an all-star high school football running back who could have earned a college football scholarship and maybe–just maybe – could have joined the  NFL. Unfortunately for Al, his dreams of football glory ended  when he impregnated Peg. 

Now, Al works at a shoe store. 

Al hates every second of his job. He entertains himself by insulting all the fat women who come into the store. Gary–his female  boss– doesn’t fire  Al because he’d make more money on unemployment and she likes to see him suffer.

In addition to his miserable job , Al  visits strip clubs, watches TV, avoids intimate relations with his wife, and is a horrible example to his kids. The guy is so hilariously  depressing he often contemplates killing himself.

So why did the audience love Al so much?  Because he was a determined sonofagun, that’s why. No scene exemplifies this more than when Al confronts a wicked librarian who calls him a loser:

“So you think I’m a loser? Just because I have a stinking job that I hate? A family that doesn’t respect me? A whole city that curses the day I was born? Well, that may mean loser to you, but let me tell you somethin’. Every morning when I wake up, I know it’s not going to get any better until I go back to sleep again. So I get up, have my watered-down Tang and still-frozen Pop-Tart, get in my car with no upholstery, no gas, and six more payments to fight traffic just for the privilege of putting cheap shoes on the cloven hooves of people like you. I’ll never play football like I thought I would. I’ll never know the touch of a beautiful woman. And I’ll never again know the joy of driving without a bag on my head! But I’m not a loser. Because despite it all, me and every other guy who will never be what he wanted to be are still out there, being what we don’t want to be 40 hours a week for life. And the fact that I haven’t put a gun in my mouth, you pudding of a woman, makes me a winner!” 

So if you’re a founder & have been grinding away for a while….

If tickets are piling up…

If you feel lost….

Know this: If Al has determination to survive—you can have the determination to thrive.