Young Entrepreneurs

Occasionally, something brings to mind one of my three sons' (plural) first venture into entrepreneurship—running the summer concession stand at the neighborhood swim club to which we belonged in their grammar school years. I fronted the money to purchase cases of junk food and sodas, and they were responsible for selling the products at the pool's concession stand. We kept track of P&L figures in a notebook on the kitchen table, the goal being not so much to make a profit but to learn a bit about running a business, being responsible, keeping commitments, and other Dad-type agenda items. I can't remember how it all ended—whether I got my investment back or how much they learned or made. But it was a good exercise in . . . something (like learning that being the owner has its privileges—like "free" candy?). And they were entrepreneurs for a summer. And have each risked capital as adults in various ways and made a few dollars doing it.

Ran into a few more budding entrepreneurs lately—even younger than my sons.

While riding my bike a few days ago, I passed a house with the proverbial lemonade stand in the front yard, "girled" by three young businesswomen. It was a terrible location on a busy street in a yard totally hidden from one direction by trees, and nowhere to stop except their driveway. This is a road I always ride to the end of, then turn around and go back the same way, so I knew I'd be passing their house again. Before I arrived the second time, I stopped my bike and pulled out a couple dollars from my biker's wallet to give them when I got to their house. I declined the lemonade but told them "way to go" for running their stand. They didn't quite understand when I just gave them money but didn't take the lemonade, but when I told them just to put the money in their money box they said, "Okay!" (Never turn down money—even when the customer doesn't want the product. His loss, your gain.)

Yesterday, I heard a tentative knock on my front door. The knocker was a young guy around eight years old, accompanied by a pal and what looked like a little sister. He asked if I wanted to buy a copy (for fifty cents) of the comic book he was writing. He had finished his manuscript (he showed it to me) and was taking orders. He would make copies and deliver them the next day. "Heck yeah," said this writer to the other. "Hold on while I get fifty cents." Two quarters and a sign-up later, he had the money and I had an eight-year-old's promise. Today, the budding writer/publisher/marketer showed up with my copy of his two-page, hand-drawn, hand-written, photo-copied, black-and-white comic—about a greedy kid who learned to share and be generous. Nice theme.

Nice to see these little ones finding their skills and setting out to discover how much said skills are worth in the marketplace. More power to 'em.

My First Earthquake

Because I work in my home office all day, I am immediately sensitive to differences of any sort—sounds, light, temperature, etc. Just before 2:00 EST today, I began hearing VERY slight noises like might be made if a bookcase or table were creaking back and forth—ever so slight noises. I actually got up and walked around my office trying to pinpoint the origin of the sound but couldn't. It stopped, so I returned to work.

A half-hour or so later I happened to turn on a radio and heard that a 5.9 earthquake had occurred at 1:53 p.m. just NW of Richmond, VA, about 300 miles from where I live outside Charlotte. That explains that.

I am proud to say I lived through my first (as far as I know) earthquake. Hope the folks in Virginia are okay—and that it rattled a few cages in the nearby nation's capital.

Every time the earth is shaken by an earthquake, I think of Hebrews 12:26-29:

When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also. This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire.

Update: Turns out this was serious, as everyone knows by now. This picture is of the National Cathedral in Washington, the left-hand spire of which was shaken and broken off during the quake:

A Video a Day Keeps the Doctor Away . . .

I've stated before in this space that I am a big fan of Dr. Michael Greger, M.D., one of the leading plant-based docs in the world. For the last four years he has issued an annual DVD containing his summaries of the previous year's best nutritional research. He scans thousands of articles each year to locate the research that most of us would never come across.

On his new web site, NutritionFacts.org, he is making the videos available for viewing at no cost. (He previously donated all the revenue from the sale of the DVDs to charity.) Each video summarizes a certain piece of research. They are brief, usually humorous, very easy to understand, and graphically interesting. This is a terrific web site—one could do worse than viewing a video a day in pursuit of good health.

Here's the introductory video (available in HD) about Dr. Greger and his mission: