Saturday, March 31, 2007

My Son the Business Man

Aleks owed me about $110 and I asked him to pay up.

"Tell ya what, Mom," says my almost-adult son, head cocked sideways, outstretched sales-guy hand, eyes looking directly into mine. "I have a stack of giftcards on my desk. Probably at least eight. I have no idea how much they're worth, but let's play a game, OK?"

I immediately have a flashback... a family game of Monopoly some years ago when Aleks was maybe seven. "Notice how often I roll doubles?" Aleks asked then. "Tell ya what, guys -- for $2 a roll, I'll roll your dice for you." My parents, husband and brother ALL took Aleks up on his offer! And, even crazier, it turned out to be a win/win for ALL of them! My family, because they did actually begin to see more double rolls (really), and Aleks because... well, I don't even need to go into it.

It started young and here we were again -- Carol and the Businessman.

"Are you offering me said gift cards in lieu of your debt?" I ask. "That is precisely what I'm doing, Carol!" says the Businessman. (The "Carol" instead of "Mom" was effective, I must admit.) "It's a risk for both of us, don't you think? A risk, but kind of exciting, too." I believed Aleks that he had no idea how much all his gift cards were worth, and there was a certain intrigue to the whole thing.

I made myself a deal: if there were more than two Starbucks cards in the lot, he had a deal.

"OK," I relented. "Get the cards and I'll take a look at them. But this action does NOT constitute agreement." Can't be to careful with this guy.

Aleks disappeared and came back with the following cards: three Starbucks cards (bingo!), three Borders cards, and two Target cards. I shuffled the cards in my hands, pondering Aleks' offer and intentionally stalling.

"I dunno... this might be too much of a risk on my part."

"Might be," he agreed, and reached for the cards.

"Then again," I added, pulling the cards back, "It might be a really stupid move on your part.

"Gotcha," he agreed.

(Yes, I do see him as either a bad used car salesman or a brilliant attorney and politician.)

"But I'll take the risk," I offered. "Ya got 'cherself a deal."

"Enjoy, Carol," Aleks says as he turned on his heels and walked off. I swear, I could see the smirk on his face even as he walked away from me.

The next day I just happened to be doing errands -- and there just happened to be a Target, a Starbucks (OK, probably more like SIX Starbucks...), and a Borders within a few blocks of my errands. I held my breath and decided to check my wager: Target cards: 1.): $20 and 2.) $3.81; Starbucks cards: 1.) $0 (oh great...), $8.32 and $25 (yes!); and Borders cards: 1.) $0 (this is not going well...) and 2.) .76 (not well at all!) and 3.) $20.

So I have a deal for y'all. He doesn't turn 18 till November, so I still have jurisdiction and can offer this:

.......

.......

Son for sale. Cheap.


(Just kidding. SOOOO kidding!! Hell, not only do I love this great kid, but I have a feeling I'll need him around for a while.)

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5 comments:

blackcrag said...

You raised him right? So how did you fall for this? You know he wasn't going to come out behind in the end...

Dixie said...

This whole post has had me laughing my fool head off. Bravo, Aleks! You are certainly a budding businessman! Or politician!

Carol, he got you good but he's a brilliant, charming guy. You raised that fella right!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, it definitely happened nothing like that...

"Aleks, do you ever use your gift cards?"

"Not really...do you want them?"

"Sure!"

"K."

Carol said...

OK, so I embellished... just a tad! (I'm a writer and a mom; I'm entitled.) If it wasn't debt-related I want my $110 paid back -- in CASH! ;-)

Maria said...

LOL! You have such a fun family!

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