Lessons from the lemonade stand
Submitted by Debra Legg on Wednesday, 16 March 2011
2 Comments
It was the kind of capitalism that capitalists would frown on because, while it didn't take a village, it did require three sets of siblings.
First came the idea, which actually was stolen from another set of siblings who had opened the neighborhood's first lemonade stand of the season over the weekend. It kind of reminded me of the company that now is charging $1,500 for a formerly $10 medication to prevent premature births, but at least the second folks on the scene didn't jack up the price in this case.
Next came the capital facilities - a card table from two sisters' garage.
Then came the raw materials - lemonade mix from two other sisters' kitchen plus a bowl of leftover candy that I'd been dying to get rid of anyway.
Finally, the intermediate goods. Or maybe it was excess inventory. "Ask your mom see if she has any cups," a sister told Big Guy. "She always has way too much leftover party stuff."
Necessary supplies procured, they moved on to division of labor. The girls with the table set up the physical plant, while the other sisters were in charge of production. Big Guy and Boots became the marketing department, with Boots making a sign and Big Guy blasting a sales pitch people probably heard on the other side of the post.
"Ice cold le-MON-ade! Get your ice cold le-MON-ade!" he called. Luckily, despite a reminder that went out recently that unapproved sales are forbidden on post, nobody went all Philadelphia on them and called the MPs. And no one questioned whether the FTC should look into his blatantly false advertising - the lemonade was long past icy cold.
In a matter of hours, it as all over and the proceeds were divided. It came to $2 per business person, with Boots being shorted 12 cents. He still falls for the appeal of all those coins, though he probably won't by the end of the summer.
Notice I said "proceeds" and not "profits." They still haven't received our bills for the cups and lemonade. We could always consider those donations but, then, that could be considered state interference in private enterprise. On the other hand, the businesspeople might well claim it's an unwarranted and excessive tax.
Capitalism or socialism? You make the call.
Copyright 2011 Debra Legg. All rights reserved.
Oh my goodness!! I am (ashamedly) a thirty-something with Boots’ tendencies toward finger-jabbing and angry accusations...
LOL! I loved how you weaved recent news and humor into this post. I can see Big Guy, or rather hear him, out there now.
I amazed that you couldn’t hear him for real. You were, after all, within a couple of hundred miles of him at the time!
Food »
Egg-free pumpkin scones
For some crazy reason – probably our “Cinnamon Roll Friday” tradition – the guys have decided that they’re entitled to a fresh-from-the-oven breakfast every morning of late. For some reason that’s even crazier, I’ve gone …
Girl Gone Wonk »
Take my kids’ dessert, Michelle. Please.
Note to Sara Palin: Michelle Obama is free to stop by my house any evening and tell my kids they can’t have dessert. After seven-plus years of this war, I’m battle fatigued. Michelle would probably …
Health »
If you’re laying off nurses, you better have a backup plan
The lack of health-care workers in schools is nothing new.
We saw the impact when Big Guy was in kindergarten and cooled his heels in the office for half a day after a snooty secretary diagnosed …
News »
Forcing myself into little circles
I’ve come to the conclusion recently that my perfect friend would be a geeky food-allergic liberal with quirky sense of humor, an obsessive interest in education issues and a tolerance for cute crap my kids …
Reviews »
Bad Kitty’s the purrfect read
In this corner we have Big Guy, who’s bored with every book I bring home and isn’t fond of fiction.
In this corner we have Boots, who could devour Step 3 books if he wanted to, …
School days »
When Accelerated Reader slams on the brakes
It’s a good thing Accelerated Reader wasn’t around when I was in third grade. I doubt there would have been AR tests for the Perry Mason novels I loved.
For unindoctrinated uninitiated, Accelerated Reader bills itself …
By the way
08/18/2009 | 1:34 pm
Sometimes life is all about timing. There’s a chance the soldier took his protective goggles off briefly during training in The Box – 1,000 barren square miles at Fort Irwin where soldiers prepare for desert warfare. Then ...
07/24/2009 | 9:47 pm
So there I was last month, stressing until 2 in the morning over Dad’s “welcome home” cake, worried that it would be ugly or dry or have the wrong color stars. Silly, silly girl. If I’d ...
06/12/2009 | 12:05 pm
I’m kind of frustrated this morning because I don’t have girls. I don’t even know any girls young enough to appreciate this. But if I did, I’d be all over the tutu tutorial – say that ...
05/30/2009 | 8:17 am
Poor Boots. He wakes up every morning chirping with the birds and with a cheery greeting. “It’s a beautiful day!” Somewhere along the line, though, the grind of the world beats the beauty out of it ...
05/21/2009 | 11:18 pm
On one level, it’s simple: When you’re about to fall, just let go and fall. Trying to stop the tumble or, even worse, flailing your arms and legs as you land will make it worse. Somewhere ...
05/20/2009 | 9:03 pm
05/20/2009 | 10:18 am
This one landed in my Twitter stream just as Boots was diving into a bowl of … Cocoa Puffs: “New peanut flour warning for General Mills cereals.” Luckily, he’s not the child who’s allergic and Big ...
05/19/2009 | 12:56 am
From the country that wants to censor the Internet worldwide in the name of protecting its children comes another bizarre project, also in the name of “protecting children” The British have launched a database, at a ...
05/18/2009 | 11:38 pm
Do I ever feel like a dolt after my post last night lamenting the difficulties of finding dye-free snow-cone syrups. I went to a Middle Eastern market today to pick up some hummus ingredients and ran ...
05/16/2009 | 8:16 pm
05/15/2009 | 10:15 pm
Six hundred and eight three killed in Afghanistan. Four thousand, two hundred and ninety six killed in Iraq. Many stories of incredible lives, often amazing sacrifices. This is one such story. Army Maj. Steven Hutchison survived two ...
To subscribe