To The Moon

$Space Exploration Technologies Corp(SPCX)$ $Tesla Motors(TSLA)$ Bro and Sis, listen carefully.I’m Muthu boy Everyday I wake up at 4.30am, open my prata stall, flip dough until my arms numb, smile at every customer even when my heart is heavy. There’s this one woman — always come, always find fault. “Prata too oily.” “Egg not enough.” “You slow lah.” Every single day she bullies me like I'm not human. Last week she threw the plate on the table and shouted in front of everyone. I just keep quiet, wipe the table, continue flipping. Stock market is not doing well, bills still need to be paid. I was thinking… enough already. Maybe it's time to go interview for a new job. Any job. Just no more this. Then yesterday one regular customer came. Quiet uncle, always order prata kosong with teh tarik, never complain. He sat down, looked at my face, and said softly: “Muthu, you look tired. Thinking of leaving?” I told him yes. He smiled a bit and said, “Come interview at SpaceX. We are always looking for people who never give up.” I almost laughed. Me? Prata boy? SpaceX? Rocket company? But he continued. He told me one story about his boss. Elon Musk. He says: In SpaceX there is one rule. No matter who you are — engineer, director, even Elon himself — if you are late for a meeting, you're out. No excuse. Immediately leave the project. Everyone thinks this rule is too harsh. Behind his back they call him a tyrant. Until one day the rule hit Elon himself. Important meeting. Rocket launch window. Delay one day = lose 17 million US dollars. Everyone sat down on time. Wait 7 minutes. Elon did not come. People start whispering. “Should we wait?” Someone said, “Rule is rule.” Two more minutes. The engineer chairing the meeting takes a deep breath and starts the meeting. Leave Elon’s chair empty. Follow the agenda. No waiting. Halfway through the door opened. Elon walked in. He looks around, sees the meeting already going, his seat has the paper already flipped to page 3. He didn't say anything. Stand at the door for a few seconds… then turn around and walk out. Nobody called him back. Nobody stood up. Meeting continued. After that everyone waited for the explosion. Waiting for that engineer to get fired. Next morning the engineer received one message from Elon. Only four words: “Yesterday you did right.” Later one internal recording leak. Someone asked Elon, “When you walked out that day, what were you thinking?” Elon says: “I was thinking… should I cancel this rule?” The person asks, “Then?” Elon replied: “Then I thought no. Precisely because the rule also applies to me, it has meaning. A rule that only binds other people is not a rule. It's a privilege.” He pause, then add: “I was late because something happened on the road. Reasonable excuse. But every exception starts with a ‘reasonable’ reason.” That recording was never officially released. But every new staff member sooner or later hears it from someone. Not because the company forced them. Because the people who heard it cannot keep it inside. SpaceX meeting punctuality became the highest in all Silicon Valley. Higher than Google, higher than Apple. Not because people are more disciplined. Because they all saw with their own eyes how the rule treated its own creator. Elon never uses “I am the boss” to make people wait for him. That is respect for the rule. That is respect for equal treatment. He also never allows special culture. His office is not a fancy suite. He sits together with engineers. He wears the same work clothes. Sleep on the factory floor more times than most staff. Nobody calls anybody “boss” or “leader” — because hierarchy makes people push blame. After the uncle finished the story, he looked at me and said: “Muthu, the woman bully you every day because she thinks she is special. You stay quiet every day because you think you are not special. But rules that only protect the strong are not rules. Maybe you go somewhere that treats people equally.” I closed the stall last night and cannot sleep. Still flipping prata this morning. But I already sent my resume. Sometimes the universe sends a rocket man to a prata stall just to tell you: You also deserve a place where the rule applies to everyone. Including the boss. Share this if you ever feel small. Break the rule once for a reasonable cause, Bend the standard, weaken the laws. For the slide to the bottom is quiet and deep— It begins with the promises we fail to keep. I hate my stupid boss. Maybe someone out there needs to hear it today. — Muthu Boy Still flipping. Still hoping.