Friday, November 29, 2013: Sam, learn the value of a dollar. I remember this last economic recession. The indicators were worse than the 1929 Depression, so let’s call it was it really was. I was in the plastic surgery referral business. Discretionary income was drying up faster than water in the Mojave Desert. That meant the only people going in for plastic surgery were those on the reconstruction side: war veterans, breast cancer survivors, burn victims, etc. Plastic surgeons were closing their practices and going on 6-month vacations to reduce overhead costs. Some surgeons actually committed suicide during that time. It was very scary. So here I am having to deal with your abduction and the ever mounting legal bills, private investigation bills, etc. that went along with this. Add to that working 18-hours a day, 7-days a week for 20-months straight just to tread water.
So how do I teach you what money even is? The best way I’ve found for now came up after you asked for a $6 multi-colored slinky after departing an amusement park ride. You know the amusement parks where a gift shop mysteriously appears at the end of a ride? I explained to you as best I could that Mom and Dad work hard to get these things that we call dollars. If she wanted it, we’d get it for her, but she had to earn it. We told her she had to do “chores” and every time she completed a task we marked it on a piece of paper hanging on her door. She was so excited, and so was I. She really understood and took to the concept of earning and the fact that one chore meant one step closer to getting what she wanted.
