in honor of United Nations Universal Children’s Day
established in 1954 and celebrated on November 20th, this day promotes international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and the improvement of children’s welfare. on this date in 1959, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and in 1989, adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
credits: united nations, united nations general assembly, sir ken robinson
my middle sister and i hatched a plan to get on the radio
when we heard about a fund raising radio-thon.
anyone who called in with a year-long pledge
would hear their names on the radio as a thank you.
as soon as our mom went upstairs
we dialed up the station on our kitchen phone
excitedly pledging to send 2 dollars a month for a whole year.
within the hour, we heard our names announced
we were so proud and cheering for ourselves
until all the noise caused our mom to come downstairs
asking what we were celebrating
as she quickly reminded us once again
that we were young kids with no income
(other than what we made from our other schemes)
and there was no way we could actually pay them a cent.
how quickly our fame turned to shame
how fearful we were
thinking the radio station
would send someone right over to our door to collect.
though they might not have found us
as we were soon busy doing hard time in our room.
—
‘fame is a fickle food upon a shifting plate.’
-emily dickinson
—
image credit: eBay
(not my actual sale, this one is 70 miles long, but you get the feel of it)
—
there was that time
when i decided the best way to earn some quick cash
was to have a yard sale.
so i dragged our lemonade stand table out into the front yard
threw a plastic tablecloth over it
made a sign
covered it with stuff to sell
opened for business
let the cash flow begin!
a couple of friends and their sibs
stopped by on bikes
to check it out
i quickly made 57 cents
things were humming along at a nice pace
the venture was looking promising
i thought i’d do this each weekend
maybe hire an assistant
deciding what i’d do with all the cash
until
my sister came marching out of the house
to see what was going on
realized that i was selling her stuff
my mom soon followed
and that business closed pretty quickly.
—
“three dollars and it only transports matter?!”
(at professor frink’s yard sale – homer simpson)
fictional character from the animated tv series created by matt groening, the simpsons
—
image credit: cbc.ca
I didn't have my glasses on.... 