another one from the vault

When I was a kid, instead of a lemonade stand I had a handicrafts stand. It was called Rainbow Color Shop and I sold jewelry, friendship bracelets, and occasionally little pots of aloe vera when my mom pruned the houseplants.

The aloe vera always sold out.

I had an advertising plan, too. My younger brother, age 5 (picture a curly-haired cherub with the energy of Calvin and an adorable inability to pronounce the letter "r") would ride his scooter up and down the street and holler "WAINBOW COLOH SHOP! FOLLOW ME!"

Sometimes I would hide under a cardboard box next to my stand and when I heard someone pass on the sidewalk I would sort of rattle around under the box. This inevitably startled the passerby and they would stop and do a quick visual investigation. Then I would peek out from under the box and ask if they were in the market for a pair of peace sign earrings. Worked like a charm!

I was a weird kid.

I remember clearly the most money I made in one day, because it was a very big deal. Four dollars and thirty-seven cents. That bought you a lot of fake flowers back in the day. My bedroom looked like an Italian cemetery.