Robert Lemoine
A dollar. It used to be so much. Now it seems like it's nothing. The new generation has no appreciation for the cost of a dollar. The youth of today see us go to the store and slide a piece of plastic through the machine and we leave with "stuff". They have no idea how it works.
My wife and I try to pay with cash on most items so our kids see it's not magic. They watch us at flea markets when people give us money in exchange for merchandise. I think this summer we will let our kids bring back the "lemonade stand". I think it will help them to understand how a dollar works. When I was younger, I wanted a toy that cost about $50 and that was a lot of money for a toy in the early '80's. I was told "NO".
But then my very insightful step-Dad said I could work for it. He had a pile of bricks that had just been thrown into a pile in the wrong spot in the yard and needed them stacked neatly by the fence on the other side of the yard about 250 - 300 feet away. I carried bricks one in each hand, then stacks of 4 or 5 at a time, and then just whatever I could handle. I was so tired. Every day after school for about a week I carried and stacked bricks until dark. When all of the bricks were moved, I was given the money to go get that toy...it was the first Optimus Prime Transformer.
I paid for it with my HARD EARNED DOLLARS and had maybe a couple of dollars change back. A few years ago, they moved that stack of bricks to almost where they started out at. Anyway, I hope to give our kids the same life lesson that a dollar is not just something everybody has and that you have to EARN it. Keep in mind that when we were growing up, our parents went to the bank to deposit a paycheck and went to the bank to get money. It was real, not just a "magic" piece of plastic.
This story was originally written on April 16, 2009. I failed to mention in the story that I still have that toy tucked away in storage. Jeffy Cole, the man who taught me about a dollar, left this world on April 24, 2010. His birthday is quickly approaching and I thought this would be a great tribute to him. After his passing, those bricks moved once again. They are now in my yard, stacked neatly where my boys placed them. That's right, I used them to teach the same value I learned as a small boy. Who knows, those same bricks may be used in the future to teach another generation the value of a dollar.
May you all have a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. God bless you all.
Robert Lemoine http://www.foreverandalwaysonline.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Lemoine |
