Why A Rubik’s Cube?
Someone asked me recently why a Rubik’s Cube was a part of the Parker’s House logo.
Have you seen the movie The Pursuit of Happyness? In it, Will Smith portrays Chris Gardner, a man who is forced into homelessness with his young son. In one powerful scene from the movie, Chris is in a cab with a man who holds the key to his future – only this man is more interested in solving a Rubik’s Cube than in helping Chris attain his dream. Chris realizes that in order to get noticed, he needs to solve the cube.
A man I know who is intimately familiar with homelessness once told me that being homeless was like having to solve a different Rubik’s Cube each day. While he was homeless, as soon as he woke up each day, he had to determine where he would stay that night, where he would find toilet facilities, where he would panhandle to earn enough money to eat for the day, if and when he could search for employment … the list of puzzles to solve was endless.
Solving these daily puzzles would be hard enough alone. Imagine the stress of not only having to solve them for yourself, but also for your children. Many of us may never face the difficulties of homelessness. We can, however, work to understand the problems of the people who live this reality. Along with an awareness of the issue, we can help alleviate some of the obstacles faced by the homeless.
Together, we can help make the daily Rubik’s Cube easier to solve … one family at a time.
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Click here to watch a 20/20 segment about Chris Gardner and his rise from homelessness to multi-millionaire.
