Delicious Nectar

When I came of age (what age, I'm not exactly sure), I made a commitment to myself that anytime I saw children selling lemonade on the side of the road, I would stop and buy some. I think this commitment came out of the deep sense of rejection I felt as a young entrepreneurial child when cars containing what I thought looked like perfectly pleasant people went whizzing by my roadside lemonade stand without so much as a second glance. Those perfectly pleasant looking people always had to take a first glance due to the gi-normous neon-colored poster we used to advertise our delicious nectar (translation: watery kool-aid).

Even as a wee one, I recognized the cruelty of adults who wouldn't humor children trying to make a little extra dough the good ol' fashioned way. I vividly remember the delight I felt when someone would actually pull over and purchase a glass (translation: mini-dixie cup) of our hard made juice. These are among my favorite childhood memories...

So, today I had the opportunity to fulfill this commitment.

I stopped at a children's lemonade stand, instead of driving past. It was the perfect lemonade-stand-day... warm with a slight summer breeze. I almost envied the kids and the carefree way they were making a living. To my delight, inflation hasn't touched the lemonade business (or maybe the recession is hitting it especially hard) because I got a medium-sized dixie cup of watery lemonade for the bargain price of 25 cents... not a penny more than I charged 20+ years ago!

While I hesitated actually drinking the lemonade (you never know where their grubby little hands have been), I was pleased to see the ice cream truck stop in front of their house a few moments later and think that I somehow contributed to them finally being able to buy that bomb-pop popsicle they've been eyeing.