Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Found Money

When I was a kid, my mother used to say, "When you grow up, I hope you have a kid just like you!" I don't think she meant that in a good way. But as life should have it, I did. My son is exactly like me, and I can see why my mother said that. But, the positive of that is I know where he's coming from, and can take a different approach to things. But I digress.

So the other day I was helping him clean his room. It is amazing how much stuff a kid can accumulate! Cars, Legos, Bionicles, PS2 games, cases, controllers, clothes kicked under the bed, gum wrappers, batteries, wires, chargers, backpacks, and countless wadded up dirty socks. I had asked him numerous times to put stuff away, but there it sat, virtually untouched, so I decided to help him out.

Didn't take too long to find the floor, get stuff sorted and put away. But as I was going through a few canvas bags and random back packs, I came across five one-dollar bills wrapped around a work name tag (mine) and a bottle of Visine.

"Hey!" my son yells. "Money!"

"It's mine," I say. "My old bag, my name tag, my money."

"But, but, it's in My Room!"

"Yes, and I asked you to clean it how many times?" I laugh. "Snooze ya lose!"

"Aw, man!"

"Well, keep that in mind next time. You never know what you'll find in pockets, long forgotten." I reminded him I once found $140 in an envelope in my dresser drawer. Still trying to figure out where that came from.

I stuck the bills in my wallet and went about my business.

So last night we went to the theater to see the touring version of The Lion King. Amazing show, but that's fodder for a different post. We arrived early, and as we approached the theater, we heard a trumpet playing. Cool, I thought. They have an outdoor ensemble entertaining theater patrons. And on a cold winter evening, no less, there he was, playing Let It Snow. When we got closer, we saw that no, it wasn't a paid performance. It was a lone veteran sitting on a stool, with his trumpet case open in front of him. Everyone was enjoying the music.

Suddenly my son says, "Hey, can we give him some money?" I thought about it for a second, and said, "Sure! Why don't we give him the five dollars we found in your room?" My son's face lit up. "Yes!" So I pulled the bills from my wallet, and we wandered back over to the lone trumpeter, and put the found money in his trumpet case.

Lion King Tickets: $225
Trumpet Music: $5
Look on my son's face: Priceless.