It was a typical San Diego day in early 1980, 73 degrees and sunny when our family experienced an unexpected turning point. I was at work and Randy was at school. Carol was at the local stores searching for the things on her shopping list for the day. Carol as a master shopper, always had a plan and a keen eye for bargains. When she was on a shopping mission, she wanted to be alone. This day, however, it was all going to change in an unexpected way.
Six year old Randy was at school and time for Carol to pick him up was fast approaching. The shopping was taking longer than expected. That meant she was going to have to accept the reality that Randy was going to be part of the final shopping activity at the local mall. Carol was not looking forward to that fact. The last thing she wanted was to take Randy shopping with her. Alas, there was no other choice.
The time arrived for Carol to get Randy at school so she placed her bags into the trunk of the car and headed for school. She arrived just in time as Randy came out the door. They hugged and got into the car. Carol told Randy that there was some more shopping to do so they were stopping at the mall on the way home. Randy didn’t make fuss, although Carol knew Randy really wanted to get home to play with his friends.
They arrived at the mall and proceeded toward Carol’s destination store. The course of the journey from the parking lot required passing a pet store. When Randy looked in the window and saw that animals were in this store he somehow persuaded his mother to go in. That was definitely not her plan and confirmation of why she didn’t take Randy shopping with her as a matter of principle.
When they entered the store, it must have been like a Disneyland for Randy. His eyes grew huge as he scanned the seemingly endless cadre of animal life in their terrariums and cages. The place was alive with the smells and sounds of myriad animal life. Dogs barking, cats meowing, birds making all manner of bird sounds and then the silence of creatures not created to make sounds. Randy dragged his mother along as they passed toads and lizards of all kinds. Then there were the aquariums housing a potpourri of tropical fish and the sounds of bubbling air oxygenating the water of every tank. Finally they reached a section that had rows of terrariums. The first few terrariums housed huge tarantula spiders. These were followed by the snakes.
Suddenly Randy’s eyes were drawn to a small terrarium that was home to a small red and tan rat snake. Immediately his longing for that snake erupted in a pleading request to his mother: “Can I have that snake? PLEEEZE!”
Red Rat Snake
Now the last thing Carol wanted was that or any other snake in her house! It was simply out of the question. But, before she came out with the flat denial that filled her thoughts, she paused and concluded she didn’t want to simply flat out deny the request. Thoughtfully and carefully Carol issued a challenge.
Thinking that the $29.95 price tag would be out of Randy’s reach for a long enough time to hopefully dispel his desire for it, she challenged with, “When you can buy it with your own money, you can have it.”
Randy responded without a fuss and off they went to the original purpose of the trip. Unknown to Carol, Randy’s mind must have been calculating, evidenced by what happened when they arrived home.
Randy made a beeline for his bedroom where his desk drawer contained a bankbook. With the bankbook in hand Randy raced to the kitchen. Presenting the book to his mother, he asked, “Please take me to the bank and withdraw the $29.95 so I can buy that snake.”
Now some fast thinking on Carol’s part had to be done. Almost without skipping a beat she retorted, “Randy, that money is for your education. Sorry, you can’t take any of it for that snake.”
Randy continued to show no disappointment. There was no crying or stamping of feet, but as later actions revealed, he quickly concocted another plan.
The next morning, Carol and I did something we almost never do, we slept in. Usually, we are up by 7 on a Saturday morning setting out to do what can’t be done during the work week. Sleeping in however was the perfect setting for the plan Randy had been hatching since the bankbook ploy failed. Suddenly at 8 there was a knock on our bedroom door.
Randy asked’ “Can I come in?”
I said, “Yes.”
Randy entered our room and held up a fist full of money with the ardent request, “Can you take me to buy that snake?”
Carol and I were shocked to say the least.
“Where did you get that money?” I demanded.
“I just ran a garage sale and I have my $29.95!” was Randy’s mater-of-fact answer.
I looked at Carol and read the dismay radiating from her face at the now inevitable reality that a snake would soon be resident in our house.
I was somewhat skeptical that a six-year-old was capable of running a garage sale. I quickly arose, got dressed and went about investigating. I went outside and surveyed the driveway and front yard. I couldn’t see any hard evidence of my son’s garage sale tale. I stepped into my empty driveway when my neighbor across the street called and waved me over.
My neighbor Gary, a retired Navy man, opened his garage door every morning, sat at his workbench and read his morning newspaper over a cup of hot coffee. It was no different this Saturday morning.
I walked across the street and greeted Gary. With a big smile on his face, he told me the rest of the garage sale story.
Gary related that he witnessed Randy opening our garage door around 6 am. He was very careful to open it very slowly so as not to make any noise that might wake us up and foil his well crafted plan. Randy proceeded to get out a large piece of cardboard from inside the garage. With a large magic marker he wrote in big letters “GARAGE SALE” and the number of our house on the cardboard. Randy then crossed the street to his friend Tommy’s house, roused him from his sleep and recruited him to give a hand with the next task in the plan. The two boys went into the backyard where they retrieved two benches from the picnic table set. One by one the boys lugged the benches and placed them in the middle of our driveway.
Two blankets from the garage were neatly placed on the benches. Randy then brought out a couple of boxes that contained some his toys. Small match-box cars, trucks, airplanes and construction machines were inspected by Randy and some were placed on the benches. These were deemed dispensable. The toys accumulated on the benches were tagged with prices on bits of masking tape and carefully arranged in groups. Cars were placed together in one area, trucks in another, airplanes and construction equipment like bulldozers and back loaders in another.
This phase completed, the boys took the garage sale sign to the end of our block and taped it to the lamp post.
At about 7 am, people began to show up. They searched the sale of toy cars, trucks and airplanes laid out on the blanket clad benches. The people saw this as a gold mine of toys as most of them were in excellent condition and the prices at 25 to 50 cents each were deemed a bargain. Gary’s curiosity got the better of him and he wandered over to survey the situation. He watched as people excitedly collected toys they wanted. They paid Randy in cash for their purchased items. Gary noted that Randy carefully counted his earnings after each sale was completed. In about an hour, Randy realized he had just what he needed for his snake. He abruptly told the few remaining buyers that the sale was over. The final few items were purchased and everyone left.
Randy and Tommy put the few unsold toys back in their storage boxes and proceeded to return everything to their original places. Lastly they removed the sign before more people would come looking for the advertised sale.
My neighbor told me how fascinated he was with the whole episode. He asked me, “What was it that motivated Randy’s extraordinary action?”
I told him, “A snake. He saw a snake at the pet store yesterday, but Carol was not too thrilled over that idea. She told him he can have it when he can buy it with his own money. Surely she never thought it would happen this fast.”
It was later that morning that we took Randy to buy his snake with his own money, just as his mother had legislated. The smile on his face as he proudly paid the cashier at the pet store was a proud moment for Carol and me.
We got used to having snakes in our house as Randy continued his fascination with these creatures. He learned to care for them and feed them. It must have been one of the things that inspired him to later pursue an education in veterinary medicine.
Randy a few years later with a Pine Snake
Turning Point
This experience is an obvious turning point for Randy, wherein he realized that if he set his mind and resources toward achieving a goal, he could do it. Additionally, if he was willing to make sacrifices, those sacrifices could make the difference between success and failure. This experience was also a turning point for Carol and me. With it we realized how powerful an influence over our son a challenge issued by his parents can be. If we had just given in and bought Randy what he so desperately wanted would have robbed him of this life changing turning point. Randy had experienced a great lesson that prepared him for the challenges his life would bring him. As parents we continued to give challenges to our son that also proved to be significant turning points for all of us.
Parents have the ability to create turning points in the lives of their children. The more aware we become of the impact of our own turning points, the more we value them, the more grateful we become and the more we can see opportunity to create them for others.
COPYRIGHT © 2014 ALLAN EDWARD MUSTERER