Short post - Small rant.
Two days ago one of the neighborhood kids came to the door peddling raffle tickets for a sports program he's in. I looked in my pocket and all it had in it was lent, so I told him I'd be happy to help him out if the following day wasn't too late. He said that would be fine, because the fund raiser didn't end until the next day.
Now if this had been an adult coming by to make me a deal I couldn't refuse on some high quality frozen steaks, or an offer to aerate my lawn for twenty bucks, I'd have told them to hit the road. But since this was a kid I would overlook my no soliciting at my door policy. By the way if your kid is in boy or girl scouts and wants to make an easy sale just make sure they are at the store where my mom or I shop. We are both suckers for them.
Anyway, the next day on my way home I made a special trip into the store so I could get some cash to help out Jordan. (the kid selling the raffle tickets) After pulling into the driveway and getting out of my truck, I heard him playing out in front of his house. I figured I'd go over and take care of our transaction.
The following is what our conversation sounded like:
Me- "Do you still have those tickets for sale?"
Jordan- "Yeah, my mom's got 'em in the house."
Me- "How about going in and getting them?"
Jordan- "I don't want to go in right now, but you can go in, my mom has them."
Me- "I thought you were the one selling them"
Jordan- "Yeah...so?"
Me- "So, if you want to sell any to me you'll have to do something to earn them, like going in and getting them."
Jordan- "Why can't you just talk to my mom about them?"
Me- "Because the last time I checked, she isn't the one playing baseball you are, and part of that deal means you get to do some of the fund raising."
Jordan- "Whatever."
Me- "Sorry, but I'm not going to do your job for you. If you want to make a sale then you are going to have to make an effort."
Jordan- "I already said I don't want to go in right now"
Me- "I'm out of here. If you change your mind I'll be at my house"
About the time I made it half way across the street, he calls out, "OK, I'll go in and get them."
My response, "Good plan...I'll be at my house, you can bring them over."
Big surprise, he never came over.
I plan on talking to his dad and letting him know about our conversation because I know what a stand-up guy Doug is and he won't be to happy to hear about his son's lack of motivation. I would hope someone would tell me if one of my kids acted this way.
What would you have done?
36 comments:
Oh gosh!!
I probably would have done the same thing as you.
It is quite irritating how lazy kids can be.
hahaha I woulda grabbed him by the ear and dragged his face in dog poo! :-P *GiGGLeS* Nah! I would have done the same as you! :-)
Btw... pssst... what is LiR's mystery object? :-P *teehee* xx
You did more than I would have.
Seems typical of kids today.
I wouldn't have even headed over there in the first place - especially if he saw you pull in. That being said, if this was my child, I would HOPE (please, please, please!!) you would tell me about it!
Nicole- When I told my wife about it the only thing I could say about him was the title of this post "Ungrateful little turd!"
VBF- The dog poo maight have made a bigger impact. hehehe
Lir's mystry object. Sorry I'll have to see if she'll spill the beans first.
Hammer- When I was a kid I would have been waiting at the driveway for the guy (me) to come home.
Dana- I'm going to talk with his dad later tonight.
I would have just waved and called over to him when I got home...and if he didn't come over I wouldn't be buying the tickets...not sure I would talk to his folks...I usually save that for the bigger stuff
whoops...that wasn't really The Teamster...that was me...
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What makes a kid think that kind of behaviour is acceptable?
I'm with Dana, if I were his mom I'd hope you would tell me...
Your subject line says it all. lol Love it. I agree with you, I would have done the same thing.
I also have a hard time saying no to boy scouts and girl scouts. And lemonade stands.
I hope you do talk to this kid's dad, I mean, sheesh, we need to raise our kids better than that. Ungrateful little turd.
Teamst...Kather...Team...Kat- Whoever you are. It's not that I think this is going to change the world or anything, but the kid should have a bit of respect.
Anndi- It was just plain irritating.
Rhea- Little things now...big things later is what I was thinking. That attitude would be a terrible thing for him to carry into adulthood.
I probably would have spit in his eye and kicked dirt in his face....
Or just played it out in my head as I said "Tough luck" and went home!
What a little BEAST!!!!
And what would I have done???
Oy vey....
Actually, I can't say here on the Internet...@#$?!?@
But I am totally with YOU, buddy.
Talk to his dad, definately.
Ungrateful, lazy little twonk! I'd have done the exact same as you!
Hopefully it's not his attitude with everything.
If you do tell the Dad and he's a good guy I can see him having a talk with the kid. But either way, you probably don't have to worry about him coming by with anything else he's selling.
p.s. your response at Ron's was a riot. Hoot owl. hahahaha
Yup.......I'm with katherine/teamster/whoever.
Wave--let 'em know I'm at the house......if he shows up, great.
Seems to me that's the natural consequence of not doing the legwork himself..out the sale.
And would it matter to him---I'm thinkin' not.
How sad is that?
I would have done the same, and maybe a little more...;-) You handled that very diplomatically! And yes, he's a ungrateful lil turd!
Peace
I would have said to him, "Sorry, bout your luck kid."
I hate it when parents make the sale of anything for their kids.
Ryno's mom and I always make him do the selling if he is involved with a fundraiser. Good job Jeff. Cheers!!
Leighann- I can tell you grew up watching Mr Rogers. It actually did make me want to go over and flick his little ears though.
Ron- His parents are really nice people and the kid's not too bad either, just lazy. Sure was irritating though. Way too much fun on your post yesterday, btw.
Akelamalu- A twonk? That's a name I've not heard before. Somehow I'm sure it fits.
Crystalchick- He's a decent kid, but he whines a lot and doesn't have a lot of motovation at times. I left another tid-bit at Ron's too.
Mel- It really is sad. I know one little raffle ticket sale isn't a big deal in the scale of life, but maybe if he learns a lesson now it will bring about a small change in his life later.
Odat- I tried to remember, he's 9 and I'm 42. Thiose extra thirty plus years on the planet have to count for something. Maybe he'll change.
Matt- Right there with you. When I had a fundraiser my mom would take me to the nieghbors, but it was up to me to do the sales pitch, collect the money and deliver the goods later. Good lessons learned.
I think you played that one out perfectly. Even though he's a kid, he should learn that money doesn't come for nothing.
Yep, Talk to the Dad. What a rude acting kid!
I hope when he went inside he said "Mom, I'm starving. What's for dinner?"
Mom "Hmmm, I don't know Jordan, I just don't wanna cook right now."
"But MOM! I'm hungry."
"Yeah. But I already said, I don't wanna cook. Just forget eating tonight, 'K?"
You know Jeff, this is such a disgusting trait that seems to have permeated so many kids across the country - we have a 16-year-old living here who operates the same way. I told her a couple of years ago that I won't buy from any of her fund raisers unless she specifically shows me the papers and solicits my support -rather than just seeing the papers laying on the table or counter. She won't venture out to the neighbors to sell a thing -regardless if it is for a church youth group activity or school group. When I was a kid, I was usually the first in the neighborhood out with the sales stuff and frequently was a top seller then -as well as later in life with Avon products for example. I agree wholeheartedly with your theory -even to talk to the parents -but knowing from the kid here, if they don't have self-motivation to begin with, even a stern parental lecture isn't likely to help either as my daughter and I have both tried to show the 16-year-old the error of her ways to no avail.
Jeff, I probably would have waved to the kid so he's know I was home. And if he came over, fine. If not, he's tuff "nuggies." But he was kinda disrespectful to you...
I think you did the right thing. What a lazy little prick. Tell on him!!!! ;)
btw I have now revealed all so VBF can be put out of her misery
It was funny though with her trawling through the comments on your blog looking for clues about my mystery object giggles
You went out of your way to get some cash, and then the kid couldn't be bothered? Nice.
I don't think I would have gone to him the way you did. I might have hollered over that he could bring the tickets by any time.
REH- You're right, too often we say, "He's just a kid, he'll learn." Problem is if they don't learn these lessons now, they might never learn them.
Jennifer- That would have poetic justice. One hungry night would leave quite an impression on him.
Jeni- This lazy attitude does seem to more common than I remember it from years past. It's evident in the type of service at various places I shop too.
Teach- In retrospect that's exactly what I should have done, but I remember getting the run around from people who said they would buy something from me later and then just avoided me instead. I thought following through on my word would have meant something to him.
Real LL- I don't want to make him out to be a bad kid, just one that needs some better direction.
LiR- I'm glad you let the cat out of the bag. I didn't want to spoil the fun for you. There you go VBF, mystery solved.
Travis- I wonder if this is one of those type of things that tend to make older people more bitter? Too many years of dealing with sttitudes like this kid's.
I think you handled it perfectly.
I also agree with everyone you should talk to his Father. I would want to be told.
Hopefully Jordan is just in the brat stage and will out grow it. With people like you teaching the lessons he has a chance.
I used to threaten to send my kids to my Mother's for a week. She is worse than boot camp..it would be the week from hell. Hmmm..maybe this could be a new career for her!
Thanks for sharing this!
I am going to look for the story with gypsy heart in it now. :)
Gypsy-Heart- I hope he grows out of it too. did you find the story? It's the post just before this one. That still cracks me up.
The exact same thing you did Jeff...
I think you handled it great.
That was impressive that you went so out of your way to try and make things happen for him.
You are right on the spot for talking to his dad. I know I would want to know if my kids were behaving like that. He went from being lazy to plain old rude.
Jeff, putting on my "normal person" thinking cap, I'd say you did the right thing. Sounds like plain, old-fashioned common sense to me.
As I am not really normal and have a NO SOLICITING sign glued to my front door for merchandise, charity or religion, I don't have these problems.
Hey Jeff,
When we were kids selling raffle tickets, candy bars, etc. was fun and gave us a sense of accomplishment. We followed through and felt proud to have done a good job when the last ticket or bar was sold.
Kids of today don't have the same dicipline we had, everything is given to them these days, nothing is earned. It's very sad, to think these children will be our future.
Your statement was accurate, he is an ungrateful little turd. But, as the saying goes, "what goes around...comes around". I hope he will learn a lesson somewhere down the line about manners and respect.
Smiles,
Kimmie
Bond- Thanks for the input.
Jules- The lazy part at nine years old was almost tolerable, but the rudeness was just plain irritating.
Nitebyrd- Lisa has been suggesting I put one of those signs up. I really should follow through with it.
Kimmie- I'm sure he will learn a lesson from his actions. I just hope it's sooner in life than later. Like you said, there are too many young people with cruddy attitudes already.
I think you did it just right, I mean, if he's not going to put out an effort then he's not going to get the reward. He may have been busy playing and really didn't want to go in, but part of life is learning that you do things you don't want to do all the time.
Talking to parents about their children can be tricky. Most parents will nod their heads or agree with you to an extent but deep down inside their saying "How dare he complain to me about my child?" So just tread lightly.
TMC- Well put. Any time you talk to a parent about their children it's a delicate dance that must be done. Thanks for dropping in and adding your words.
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