PaulH
29 posts
Jun 18, 2011
12:07 AM
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As I was looking at the Rike's pictures, the toy store one struck home for me.
Since my Mom raised me as a single parent (Dad passed away), money always seemed to be tight. A a young boy, I loved building plastic model airplanes. So when we went shopping at Rike's, I couldn't wait to get to the toy department. Mom and I had a deal. If the kit cost less than one dollar, she would buy it for me. This worked for some time and I was happy? Then one day, I cried because I thought she broke our deal. I found a model that I wanted and it only cost $.98(cents). She said no, that it was too much. I argued and cried and threw a fit in the store. She would walk away and hide from until I calmed down. This taught me another lesson. Anyway, she explained that it really cost $1.01 with sales tax. The clerk said the same thing to me and it left me wondering, "what the heck is sales tax?". This went on for some time until The light went on in my head. I started looking for soda bottles and turning the in to a local store to redeem the deposit. I didn't tell Mom this.
Then one time we went to Rike's and I picked out a kit marked $.98. She gave me a big frown when she saw it. That turned into a suprised smile when I handed herthe kit and 3 pennies to pay the sales tax. Even the clk smiled. I almost felt like a grown-up that day.
I don't remember how old I was at the time, but it was a lesson that I never forgot.
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