Jami Supports Free Enterprise

I love to see kids with lemonade stands (or Kool-aid or iced tea, whatever). There is something so very wholesome about selling plastic cups of powder-mix drinks (with an ice cube, if you're lucky) and I always, always stop and buy a cup. Last year, one set of go-getters had set up a karaoke machine and were actively hawking their product "Ice cold, DELICIOUS fruit punch. This stuff is good. This is the stuff we ask our mom to buy, not that other stuff that isn't as good. It's blue, it's yummy, you'll love it. We have Lime, too. It's green and cold" I sat and listened to the main sales-girl while I sipped my green, cold, lime and was convinced that I had to try the fruit punch, too. Several times I've seen kids selling other things with the beverages, too. Crafts, friendship bracelets, art work. I like that - bring 'em in with the icy cold drinks, then make the big sale. Today I saw several kids, folding chairs and a table out on the sidewalk. They waved furiously as I approached, so I pulled the car over. I didn't see any cups or pitchers so I rolled down the window and said "Whatcha selling?" Two of them yelled "HOT DOGS!!!" I was taken aback. I've never seen that. According to the older-looking one, a hot dog cost a dollar, so I dug out a greenback. The boy produced a foil-wrapped plate from under the table, took out a bun and handed me a plain hot dog, no condiments offered, no napkin, plate or wrapper. I wrapped it in a napkin from my glove box and stuck it in my purse. Good for them - $1.00 per sale, instead of the usual 25 cents for a cup. I remember the times I tried that. We lived on a dead-end street, so not much traffic. I remember figuring that there had to be like, 20 cups of lemonade in the pitcher and at a dime each, that was two dollars for each pitcher I sold. I also remember the lesson of having worked all day and only making a few bucks. It's why I think all kids should have a lemonade stand. I won't be one of those "extra lesson" parents who charges kids for the kool-aid and cups, either. You still learn. This is what America is about. You work and you earn and that's how it goes. If you believe in something, like little kids earning their own money, you pay a little more (like 50 cents for a cup of Lime), and everyone wins. God bless America. I'm going to go eat my hot dog from my purse.