"We are selling pretty stones" (1 Viewer)

[Ditkaless Wonders]

So I'm doing a bit of yard work last night when two little girls, 7 years old maybe, from up the cul-de-sac come running down and say '(DW), we are selling pretty stones, want to buy some?"  Well I get my wife and we walk up the way and these girls have a display table of maybe 100 rocks, river rock, standard landscape rock that they pulled from their landscaping, pebbles the size of walnuts.  Each one has a price sticker ranging from .25 to $3.  I loved their naiveté and entrepreneurial spirit. My wife and I each select a few.  In total we spent $5 for rocks.  As we were leaving one of the girl's mothers came out. She had no idea what they were up to.  She was stunned.  Me, I was just amused.  As we were leaving three other neighbors were walking up to purchase theirs as these girls had rung every doorbell on the cul-de-sac and invited everybody to the sale.

Just a slice of life from my neck of the woods.

 

[Pipes]

Nice Ditka I'd rather buy rocks than luke warm overly sweet lemonade.  But I almost always stop at those stands as I like to reward kids for getting off their devices and trying to earn a buck or two.

 

[rockaction]

So I'm doing a bit of yard work last night when two little girls, 7 years old maybe, from up the cul-de-sac come running down and say '(DW), we are selling pretty stones, want to buy some?"  Well I get my wife and we walk up the way and these girls have a display table of maybe 100 rocks, river rock, standard landscape rock that they puled from their landscaping.  Each one has a price sticker ranging from .25 to $3.  I loved their naiveté and entrepreneurial spirit. My wife and I each select a few.  In total we spent $5 for rocks.  As we were leaving one of the girl's mother came out. she had no idea what they ere up to.  She was stunned.  Me, I was just amused.  as we were leaving three other neighbors were walking up to purchase theirs as these girls had rung every doorbell on the cul-de-sac and invited everybody to the sale.

You can't drink a rock. Heck, if you get a real rock, you can't even smoke it.

But yes, a nice slice of entrepreneurial innocence there. 

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Nice Ditka I'd rather buy rocks than luke warm overly sweet lemonade.  But I almost always stop at those stands as I like to reward kids for getting off their devices and trying to earn a buck or two.

Me too.  I am a diabetic and couldn't drink the stuff if I actually wanted to, but I had a stand when I was young and the circle of life demands that I stop and purchase some.  Same thing for hitchhikers.  I did it so I now stop and give rides myself.

I just loved the hopeful enthusiasm of the young and that they saw great value in the beauty that is all around us.  some of those rocks were pretty if one took the time to look as does a child.  Beauty outside of preconception and training of life experience is to be cherished.  Kids can see the same sparkle from broken glass in an inner city alley as they can from a diamond or from moonlight refracting off a fresh snow fall.  As adults we sometimes forget to see for what we process from judgment instead.

 

[ProstheticRGK]

You should have called the cops. I guarantee those girls didn't have a license for that business. Plus, those rocks weren't inspected to make sure they conform to OSHAA Safety standards; I'd have demanded to see the MSDS numbers on all of their inventory. That's a public safety hazard.

at first, I thought this was post was going to be about the sheer ridiculousness of the gemstone industry. Your story is much better. Your stories usually are. They're like Norman Rockwell paintings, only, there's always a character in the deep background, almost imperceptible, up to something sinister: like sacrificing a goat to Baphomet.

 

[eoMMan]

You should have set up your own table and sold rocks for $0.10 less.  Teach them about competition.
 

Maybe set up an on-line smear campaign too.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

You should have called the cops. I guarantee those girls didn't have a license for that business. Plus, those rocks weren't inspected to make sure they conform to OSHAA Safety standards; I'd have demanded to see the MSDS numbers on all of their inventory. That's a public safety hazard.

at first, I thought this was post was going to be about the sheer ridiculousness of the gemstone industry. Your story is much better. Your stories usually are. They're like Norman Rockwell paintings, only, there's always a character in the deep background, almost imperceptible, up to something sinister: like sacrificing a goat to Baphomet.

Love the Baphomet reference.

 

[Osaurus]

Weather rocks are awesome

 

[GroveDiesel]

You should have called the cops. I guarantee those girls didn't have a license for that business. Plus, those rocks weren't inspected to make sure they conform to OSHAA Safety standards; I'd have demanded to see the MSDS numbers on all of their inventory. That's a public safety hazard.

at first, I thought this was post was going to be about the sheer ridiculousness of the gemstone industry. Your story is much better. Your stories usually are. They're like Norman Rockwell paintings, only, there's always a character in the deep background, almost imperceptible, up to something sinister: like sacrificing a goat to Baphomet.

Pfffttt. No such thing as an MSDS anymore. All got changed to SDS.

But I'd definitely want to know origin and type, could definitely have some serpentine rock in there with some juicy asbestos veins.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

They got the rocks from your yard and are selling them back to you.

You know, like Tyler Durden did with liposuction fat at the Paper Street Soap factory.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

They got the rocks from your yard and are selling them back to you.

You know, like Tyler Durden did with liposuction fat at the Paper Street Soap factory.

I hope that they did.

 

[Kanil]

So I'm doing a bit of yard work last night when two little girls, 7 years old maybe, from up the cul-de-sac come running down and say '(DW), we are selling pretty stones, want to buy some?"  Well I get my wife and we walk up the way and these girls have a display table of maybe 100 rocks, river rock, standard landscape rock that they pulled from their landscaping, pebbles the size of walnuts.  Each one has a price sticker ranging from .25 to $3.  I loved their naiveté and entrepreneurial spirit. My wife and I each select a few.  In total we spent $5 for rocks.  As we were leaving one of the girl's mother came out. She had no idea what they were up to.  She was stunned.  Me, I was just amused.  As we were leaving three other neighbors were walking up to purchase theirs as these girls had rung every doorbell on the cul-de-sac and invited everybody to the sale.

Just a slice of life from my neck of the woods.

My brother was 1.5 years younger than me.  When I was 7 or so, he decided we were going to setup a rock stand and sell rocks.  I laughed and said there was no way people were going to buy rocks.  He came back 3 hours later with $15.  I've never been so full of regret in my life.

 

[Don Quixote]

These girls sound like the rainy day women that Bob Dylan warned would stone you when you were trying to go home.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

These girls sound like the rainy day women that Bob Dylan warned would stone you when you were trying to go home.

Ahhh Bobby. Reminds me that once upon a time I dressed so fine, threw the bums a dime, in my prime.

 

[Foosball God]

So I'm doing a bit of yard work last night when two little girls, 7 years old maybe, from up the cul-de-sac come running down and say '(DW), we are selling pretty stones, want to buy some?"  Well I get my wife and we walk up the way and these girls have a display table of maybe 100 rocks, river rock, standard landscape rock that they pulled from their landscaping, pebbles the size of walnuts.  Each one has a price sticker ranging from .25 to $3.  I loved their naiveté and entrepreneurial spirit. My wife and I each select a few.  In total we spent $5 for rocks.  As we were leaving one of the girl's mother came out. She had no idea what they were up to.  She was stunned.  Me, I was just amused.  As we were leaving three other neighbors were walking up to purchase theirs as these girls had rung every doorbell on the cul-de-sac and invited everybody to the sale.

Just a slice of life from my neck of the woods.

Similarly two neighbor boys (around 10 years old) came up to our door about a month ago with a bunch of terrible paintings they had made.  They were selling them door to door.  I did not end up buying one, but I made a donation to them as incentive as I thought it was great.  I ended up hearing from their mom that they made over $100 selling their art.  Good for those kids I say.

 

[NutterButter]

Nice Ditka I'd rather buy rocks than luke warm overly sweet lemonade.  But I almost always stop at those stands as I like to reward kids for getting off their devices and trying to earn a buck or two.

There's always a couple of folks that are quite generous with their tip to my kids.   Seeing how happy this generosity makes my kids, I'm always looking to pay it forward.

 

[Osaurus]

Were they playing this song?

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Were they playing this song?

Nope.

 

[parrot]

Yeah I have some kids selling rocks down on the corner in my neighborhood too.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Yeah I have some kids selling rocks down on the corner in my neighborhood too.

So this is maybe a thing.  Interesting.  Why not, pet rocks sold.

 

[Jules Winnfield]

Similarly two neighbor boys (around 10 years old) came up to our door about a month ago with a bunch of terrible paintings they had made.  They were selling them door to door.  I did not end up buying one, but I made a donation to them as incentive as I thought it was great.  I ended up hearing from their mom that they made over $100 selling their art.  Good for those kids I say.

I see this little girl do the same thing at her art stand. Her name is Ruthie and she’s always selling her good art

 

[parrot]

So this is maybe a thing.  Interesting.  Why not, pet rocks sold.

Yeah it's pretty neat.  They even come in a little baggie.  But they're really protective of their corner.  

 

[wikkidpissah]

Yeah it's pretty neat.  They even come in a little baggie.  But they're really protective of their corner.  

Good Chappelle sketch - art-stand, rock-selling girls protecting their corner from drug dealers, hookers & pimps, mob guys, rival art gangs....

ETA:....Wayne Brady...

 

[ChiefD]

My 11 year old son wanted to open a lemonade stand this summer with one of the neighbor kids. They come to me at like 4:00 in the afternoon:

Son: Dad, we are going to have a lemonade stand.

Me: OK, do you have some lemonade?

Son: No, we need to go to the store?

Me: OK. Go get your money for the lemonade. And you'll need some to buy cups and also some ice.

Son: How much is that going to cost us?

Me: Oh, probably about $15 or so. How much are you selling your lemonade for?

Son: .50 a cup. 

Me: OK. How many cups of lemonade will you need to sell to make any money.

Son: What do you mean?

Me: Well, it's going to cost you about $15 in materials to make your lemonade. At .50 a cup how many cups do you need to sell just to make back your seed money?

Son: (thinks for a second) 30

Me: Correct. So take a look around at our location. Is there enough traffic and walkers to give you a good idea you can sell 30 cups of lemonade, and then even more so you can actually make some money?

Son: Not really. Not sure this is a great idea to be honest.

Me: OK. Just think it through and let me know what you want to do.

Son: OK. 

Comes back in 5 minutes and decides against the idea. I cracked open a beer and watched the game and didn't have to go to the store. Kid learned an economics lesson.

He comes back about 20 minutes later and asks how he can earn some money. I tell him we have some stacks of brush in the back that needs to be broken down and taken to our wood pile for our fire pit.

Son: How much if I do that?

Me: $10

Son: OK.

He's done in half an hour. I gladly hand him $10 on a 90 degree day and crack open another cold one. 

 

[Leroy Hoard]

My 11 year old son wanted to open a lemonade stand this summer with one of the neighbor kids. They come to me at like 4:00 in the afternoon:

Son: Dad, we are going to have a lemonade stand.

Me: OK, do you have some lemonade?

Son: No, we need to go to the store?

Me: OK. Go get your money for the lemonade. And you'll need some to buy cups and also some ice.

Son: How much is that going to cost us?

Me: Oh, probably about $15 or so. How much are you selling your lemonade for?

Son: .50 a cup. 

Me: OK. How many cups of lemonade will you need to sell to make any money.

Son: What do you mean?

Me: Well, it's going to cost you about $15 in materials to make your lemonade. At .50 a cup how many cups do you need to sell just to make back your seed money?

Son: (thinks for a second) 30

Me: Correct. So take a look around at our location. Is there enough traffic and walkers to give you a good idea you can sell 30 cups of lemonade, and then even more so you can actually make some money?

Son: Not really. Not sure this is a great idea to be honest.

Me: OK. Just think it through and let me know what you want to do.

Son: OK. 

Comes back in 5 minutes and decides against the idea. I cracked open a beer and watched the game and didn't have to go to the store. Kid learned an economics lesson.

He comes back about 20 minutes later and asks how he can earn some money. I tell him we have some stacks of brush in the back that needs to be broken down and taken to our wood pile for our fire pit.

Son: How much if I do that?

Me: $10

Son: OK.

He's done in half an hour. I gladly hand him $10 on a 90 degree day and crack open another cold one. 

Best reason to have kids is that parents are exempt from child labor laws.

 

[parrot]

My 11 year old son wanted to open a lemonade stand this summer with one of the neighbor kids. They come to me at like 4:00 in the afternoon:

Son: Dad, we are going to have a lemonade stand.

Me: OK, do you have some lemonade?

Son: No, we need to go to the store?

Me: OK. Go get your money for the lemonade. And you'll need some to buy cups and also some ice.

Son: How much is that going to cost us?

Me: Oh, probably about $15 or so. How much are you selling your lemonade for?

Son: .50 a cup. 

Me: OK. How many cups of lemonade will you need to sell to make any money.

Son: What do you mean?

Me: Well, it's going to cost you about $15 in materials to make your lemonade. At .50 a cup how many cups do you need to sell just to make back your seed money?

Son: (thinks for a second) 30

Me: Correct. So take a look around at our location. Is there enough traffic and walkers to give you a good idea you can sell 30 cups of lemonade, and then even more so you can actually make some money?

Son: Not really. Not sure this is a great idea to be honest.

Me: OK. Just think it through and let me know what you want to do.

Son: OK. 

Comes back in 5 minutes and decides against the idea. I cracked open a beer and watched the game and didn't have to go to the store. Kid learned an economics lesson.

He comes back about 20 minutes later and asks how he can earn some money. I tell him we have some stacks of brush in the back that needs to be broken down and taken to our wood pile for our fire pit.

Son: How much if I do that?

Me: $10

Son: OK.

He's done in half an hour. I gladly hand him $10 on a 90 degree day and crack open another cold one. 

Very few startups cash flow right out of the gate.   

 

[Foosball God]

Very few startups cash flow right out of the gate.   

Right, did you have him figure out how many cups of lemonade he could make with the mix and the cups?

 

[beer 30]

You should have called the cops. I guarantee those girls didn't have a license for that business. Plus, those rocks weren't inspected to make sure they conform to OSHAA Safety standards; I'd have demanded to see the MSDS numbers on all of their inventory. That's a public safety hazard.

at first, I thought this was post was going to be about the sheer ridiculousness of the gemstone industry. Your story is much better. Your stories usually are. They're like Norman Rockwell paintings, only, there's always a character in the deep background, almost imperceptible, up to something sinister: like sacrificing a goat to Baphomet.

DW went to school with Norman Rockwell, true story