It is a large building run as a combination thrift shop and vender mall. Various venders rent booths where they sell their own products- there are some selling crafts and home-made items, some selling used books, some selling antiques and collectables, and one selling a bunch of stuff from China.
I tend to stay on the thrift shop side of the store. My 11 year old son loves the booth with the imported junk from China because it has things like remote control cars, helicopters, and other electronic gizmos dear to the heart of this particular 11 year old child.
Once I let him buy some gimmicky gadget, which broke the second time he used it, and another time, against my better judgment and in spite of my own advice, I allowed him to buy a remote control helicopter, though I told him I thought it was a bad idea. We had to take it back the next day (something they frown on there) because it was missing an important component from the unopened package. Nevertheless, my son has continued to beg to buy junk from there every time we go to that store. I have told him no, reminding him of what his father and I have told him many times, electronic stuff there just is not a good buy, it's shoddy, cheap workmanship, and its components are more likely to fail than simpler things from the thrift shop side of the store, where items have been tried and tested.
Today I allowed him to buy another electronic vehicle there for eight of his own hard-earned dollars- I do mean hard-earned. He does yard work for his grandmother and his brother-in-law for cash, and they have large yards, one of them on a hill.
He proudly brought it home, took it out of the box, found it needed batteries, called his sister at the library and asked her to bring him home some batteries from the store, waited impatiently for her to get home from work with his batteries- and the gewgaw refused to work as advertised. Headlights turned on, but nothing else. The poor boy was so glum.
Being the kind, thoughtful, compassionate mother I am, I had him read the story of Benjamin Franklin's Whistle. You can see the whole thing online here, read the bit I excerpted for him to read here at Frugal Hacks, or enjoy a nifty collection of several of Benjamin Franklin's educational essays here:
.Benjamin Franklin's the Art of Virtue: His Formula for Successful Living
The Way to Wealth: To which is added: The Whistle & The Advantages of Drunkenness
And what did the Boy think of this experience?
"I've read this before, Mom. You have me read it every time I buy something like this."
"Really? I guess hope springs eternal.... in both of us."
We have a few more words, and he flashes me a rueful grin, a strange mixture of affection and frustration, and heads off to bed.
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There is something about boys that age isn't there? They just love gadgets! My oldest is the same. Sorry he was disappointed again, and wasted his hard earned dollars.
ReplyDeleteAww, poor boy. My 10yo boy is learning the same kind of lesson the same way, though at a somewhat lower cost because his source is usually the dollar store. I'm not sure there's any other way to learn this lesson. One thing that has helped somewhat is to have him look closely at the dollar store items, flex the plastic, see the lack of alignment, etc. That might be harder to do at a vendor booth than in the aisle of a store, though.
ReplyDeleteI laughed a long time at the "hope springs eternal" comment. This is a wonderful story, and I hope the boy appreciates the lesson of the whistle soon.
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