A few weeks ago, as I strolled along the beach in CT with my
father, we encountered a young girl handing out flyers for her lemonade stand
down the street. I read the sheet and was immediately outraged. Her “Lemonade
Stand” would be open that day from 1-3- or maybe longer.
“Maybe longer??” I shouted into the wind. “Where has the
work ethic gone?” I spewed in disgust to my father. We joked about this for a
few paces more. Would she be donating the money to a local charity I hope- we
teased- due to her swanky address.
But seriously- my childhood enterprise was way better than
this lazy little sprite, with her fluctuating hours. It all began with two
scrappy girls and an idea. An idea that we could pick up shells and other
treasures from the beach and the world would buy them from us at our home
storefront. We called it The Shell Stand and after a few successful years we
expanded into the restaurant world with the launch of the ME muffin café.
The premise
behind the ME (aptly named after Marissa and Emily) Muffin Café is that we
would scrape together $1 a week essentially to purchase a box of Jiffy Muffin
Mix, which my mom would then bake for us, and then we would resell them to her
and my business associate’s parents on a daily basis. We also sold them coffee they made. We
worked long hard hours, for less than minimum wage and I think it truly was one
of the pivotal experiences in my life that shaped me into the person I am
today.
Is this drive and determination lost on the current
generation? Perhaps I should start a mentoring program… or we may all be at a
loss for lemonade.
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