Little girls give away free lemonade. Conservative columnist is outraged.

Not all incentives are monetary.

The Grinch is alive and well and riding around Chicago in the back seat of his brother's car. Way to rain on the parade, Savage.

Yeah, that too!

It is good to see you here again, Nimh. Hi, Roger.
I am reminded of a story told by one of the old time A2Kers recently. It seems that a 13 or so year old neighborhood kid showed up at the door wanting to know if there were any chores needing to be done. The A2Ker called the kid's house and was told by an adult that the kid was authorized to call on selected neighbors.
Fine. They cleaned out the garage and, when the kid was asked how much he was owed he replied: "Nothing. My grandfather said that I should learn how to work before I charge for work."
I suspect that that kid and the little girls giving away free lemonade ended up faring far better financially then any competitors, if they had any competitors.
It's all about marketing, and the outraged columnist is oblivious to that.

Savage sounds like a stick-in-the-mud lol.

If the parents were trying to teach the little girls about charity, though, maybe they should have charged those evil rich people in their 'upscale neighborhood' and then given the proceeds to a worthy cause that helps the poor.

I m not sure whether he was making fun of himself, indirectly.

Hard to tell. I'd never heard of him before this thread.

Gifts can be rendered out of hedonism, instead of charity.

I 've done that;
dropping dimes n quarters into the grass (like an Easter Egg Hunt)
from a passing hot air balloon, near some children. Its fun.



Try it on St. Patrick 's Day.





David

Still....I'd have charged Savage double

Maybe even triple...

Me, neither.

Interesting take.

Jerk.
Apparently never heard of just doing something for the fun of it.
I thought all the Puritans were dead.

Joe(guess not)nation

When my daughter was about 10, she and another girl were asked by a neighbor to help in her garden. The girls did. The woman then told them they could pick as many flowers as they wanted from a particular area. After they picked flowers, they set up a stand to sell them.

The mother of the other girl was outraged and forbade her daughter to play with my daughter.

Now, it seems to me this Savage person . . . who, by the way is a woman, listed as a nationally known personal finance commentator who has won awards for her columns, blogs and television appearances . . . would have approved of that venture. After all, the girls were asked to help a woman who rewarded them and they sold their reward.

The other mother was ashamed that her daughter made a "pest" of herself.

What 's the sales tax on that ?

Do u know the basis of the outrage ?
the nature of the objection ?

The columnist might approve of the final outcome, but the very concept of providing free labor to help a neighbor with no expectation of recompense would apparently drive her up the wall. After all, isn't donating your time the same as donating your goods?

But, as the woman allowed the girls to have flowers, the labor was not free.

The mother called me and ranted on at length. She was a social climber. Other than making a "pest" of themselves, I think it was engaging in commerce, but, the incidence was more than 20 years ago. I decided it was better to say nothing to the woman. My daughter was hurt by the event.