The lemonade stand was an interesting, enterprising experiment.
We agreed prior to set-up that whatever proceeds (not profits, as there were no profits, we were deep in the lemon juice hole on this one) would be divided into three equal piles.
I remember an “expert” on Cityline discussing how children should group their money in this way so was eager to try it out on the sweet (sometimes sour) guinea pigs.
The first pile would be assigned to a charity of their choice. The first that came to mind was homeless people but the girls shifted to the Humane Society having just watched a movie about a girl and her cheerleading team who held a yard sale for the family pet, dying of cancer and the Dad had no way to pay for the required operation. There you go tugging at our heartstrings again Lifetime. Your reach is boundless.
The second pile was for University and the third was fun money to be spent on a wild indulgence that would make them happy in that moment but would it be fulfilling long term? This was going to be fun to watch.
We opened for business and watched the cars roll up to check out the neighbours who had garage sale items for sale and most people smiled in our direction but scurried away quickly before we could lure them in with our refreshments.
About forty-five minutes in….there’s a storm outside and the gap between crack and thunder, crack and thunder, was closing in.
We made $3.80. Again, I don’t want to be misleading because we didn’t actually make anything. But there was $3.80 in the girl’s jar at the end of the sales cycle. Obviously investors were unhappy with first quarter results for Slotzy’s Lemonade Inc. who reported earnings well below market expectations for the day of the launch.
Greg and I agreed to match the charity donation and school savings big heap of cash but there was something unsettling about spending $10 in gas to drive to the Humane Society to present them with $2.52.
First year tuition would obviously not be covered and even if the girls pooled their money, they couldn’t even buy one Zooble let alone the dozens they had planned on first playing with, then pelting each other with when one of them drank from the other’s lemonade cup.
Slotzy’s Lemonade Inc. is still very much in the early stages of development and we don’t plan to give up after one failed Saturday.
We have just enough for a bag of ice for next week.
The dream lives.
