Friday, July 8, 2011

the lemonade stand...

i could hear the laughter floating through my home...windows open...the lovely sounds were coming from next door...the weather...perfect...i looked out my window and saw that the little girls next door had set up a lemonade stand...business was not exactly brisk...i watched them for a while...sitting there waiting...and then i went to work...by the time i looked up...hours had gone by and it was time to water the front yard...and after that...run a million errands...i headed outside...

"want to buy some lemonade?" one of the entreprenuers called out...

"sorry...not right now," i called back...feeling like the old lady who yells at kids who get balls on her lawn..."are you going to be there tomorrow?" i asked...

"yes!" one of the girls said...jumping up and down...

"ok!" i said...and thought...ok, tomorrow i will definately buy some lemonade...

the next day...turned out to be much warmer then the day before...but there was the table...all set up with a pink construction paper sign taped to it...the girls were sitting up on the porch...where they could see customers without subjecting themselves to the heat...

when it was time to water the yard...i looked in my wallet...and grabbed some quarters...but when i got to the table...the girls were nowhere in sight...a new sign...this one yellow...said closed...below...it read...we'll be right back...

but they never came back...and i felt a little sad...not because i missed out on the lemonade...i personally don't like lemonade...but to be able to support these girls...because there had been such hope in that little girl's voice when she'd asked if i'd like some lemonade...because the little girls they were now would soon morph into teenagers who wouldn't be caught dead selling lemonade...who'd understand the gain would never equal the effort...

but for every adult who bought a cupful...the gain was immeasurable...easily worth ten dollars...to see a kid with a purple headband pour you a drink from a plastic pitcher so heavy for her it wobbles dangerously when she pours...the same kid who entertains herself by doing cartwheels between customers and uses her imagination to turn her ideas into reality...i've learned my lesson...i'm ready to do my part...next lemonade stand i pass...i will not wait till tomorrow...

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