From The Storyteller
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Point of View
My first attempt to make money, so I could buy something, was selling Christmas Cards for Junior Sales Club of America. The Boy’s Life magazine ad said when (not if) I sold 12 Boxes of “Sensational New Assorted Christmas Cards (25 to a box)” I will earn enough for a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun. Desire and opportunity came together, and my parents did not stand in my way. Unfortunately, door-to-door sales was not the easy path I thought it would be. And at age 11, with the $8.75 my parents spent for “their” 175 Sensational New Assorted Christmas cards, my attempt at a direct sale marketing career ended. My next experiment in business was mowing lawns. My only client was the elderly woman across the street. I used her power mower, and she paid with checks of $2.00. Because I did not have a bank account, my dad cashed the checks for me. My client base collapsed right at the time I had earned enough to buy the new baseball glove I wanted. As she no longer needed my services, my yard maintenance business quietly ended. (I still wonder whether my dad ever deposited her checks). Next business effort - building maintenance. I needed extra money for a special date and learned of a person with an office that needed floors washed and waxed. The job paid enough - but my dad’s office was only a one-shot deal. So much for building maintenance. Never had an allowance, but I did get paid a quarter to take out the trash, which definitely killed my thoughts of a career in sanitation. I didn't think helping my children consider career “options” was a part of my role as a father - until I had teenagers. Moral: Age, circumstances, and experience can dramatically alter our Point of View |