The Social Triangle by O. Henry

While I have some down time here at work today I picked up a collection of short stories by O.Henry. I have decided to take each one and blog it individually to give it it's proper credit.

The first one is The Social Triangle. It is very short but very powerful. Here is the premise of it...

Ikey Snigglefritz is a tailor's apprentice. On payday, he finishes work, collects his wages and goes down to the bar. Ikey is on the bottom rung of society. He is poor and will never be anyone important in his world. He goes to see his idol, the man he mosts admires, Billy McMahan. Billy is a politician of sorts. Whatever he says goes down in that part of town. Ikey admires him, as do so many other men who are much more powerful and influential than Ikey. Ikey gets brave and in a rash moment, approaches Billy and invites him to have a drink with him. Ikey throws his entire paycheck into buying liquor for men much wealthier than him in an effort to impress Billy. When Ikey gets home his mother and sisters beat on him and scold him for losing all his money but he does not care. He has shaken the hand of Billy McMahan. Meanwhile, in a restaurant across town, Billy McMahan and his wife are dining together. Many if not all of the other patrons do not care for Billy and it bothers his wife. It is hurting her own social standing and keeping her out of the most elite circle. But Billy does not see this. He is fixated on his own idol who sits across the room- Cortlandt Van Duyckink. Van Duyckink is a very powerful man who can make or break anyone in town. He is very wealthy and as you will find out, spends a good bit of his time doing social work and helping to improve other people's lives. Billy has a fit of braveness and approaches Van Duyckink to tell him that he would love to help him do his work in the slums because Billy pulls a lot of weight down there. Van Duyckink is grateful and tells Billy he would appreciate his help. Billy goes back to his table full of hopes and pride because he just shook the hand of the man he admires most while his wife is overjoyed that they are NOW finally in the inner cirlce because Billy is acquainted with Van Duyckink. Finally we see Van Duyckink driving his fancy car through the slums with a lady friend and commenting on the deplorable conditions. He tells her of the improvements he wants to make and how he wants to help the people have better lives. He sees a man come out of a building and he jumps from the car and runs up to the man. Van Duyckink shakes the man's hand and tells him that he is going to help him and they will be good friends. Van Duyckink goes away with a glad heart because he has just shaken the hand of a man he admires greatly---Ikey Snigglefritz. Ikey never knew that the man who shook his hand was the envy of his own idol and that Billy McMahan would have tripped all over himself if he could have been told that Van Duyckink wanted to be his good friend.

This story is so indicative of how small our worlds really are. Everyone is connected one way or the other and no matter who you are, you make a difference to someone and have a place.