It was a hot July day, the air was still, no wind or gentle breeze to bring any sort of relief. I was on a dusty, gravel road, driving to my next delivery. I was 2 dirt roads off a main road, not another car in sight. The intersections out here don’t even have road signs because if you’re out here, you know where you are.
Sometimes on these dirt roads I’ll get behind some farmer driving his big combine down the road and the thing takes up the whole road and I can’t even pass him. Today there were no tractors or combines on the roads, nothing to get in my way, also nothing to break the monotony of the rows of corn that bordered the road. In every respect it felt like I was in the middle of nowhere. I wasn’t expecting to see what I saw at the next house, especially way out here. It was something that I saw less and less of with each passing year. I drove past it before I even realized what it was, I slowly backed up, parked at the end of the driveway and bounded out of my truck enthusiastically. I practically shouted….. “this is just what I’ve been looking for.” And in a way it was for here on this dusty, hot dry gravel road, was a little girl and her lemonade stand.
I don’t know if it’s because times change and kids have other things to do, or if it’s more that parents don’t want their kids to do it anymore, but lemonade stands are becoming a thing of the past, a Norman Rockwell slice of Americana of a bygone era. I always try to stop at them and I’ve always been the only person there. I’m not saying I’m an expert about lemonade stands, but I’ve found most lemonade stands follow the same pattern. It’s almost always a little girl or two little girls, rarely a boy. I think I’ve been to one lemonade stand that had a boy at it, and I’m guessing it was because his sister somehow convinced him to do it and maybe even told him that they’d….. “make a lot of money.”
I like to imagine the conversation in the morning that precedes the set-up. The little girl announces she wants to do a lemonade stand. The parent initially resists because they don’t have the necessary supplies, lemonade and cups. Finally the parent relents because they figure at least the child is doing something on their own and they’re out of the house for the afternoon, then perhaps a quick trip to the store to buy the supplies. There’s usually a dusty, wobbly card table drug up from the basement or out of the garage. A homemade sign usually in black marker made from an old cardboard box, taped to the card table. There might even be a misspelled word on the sign, and in one instance of either clever marketing or a rather cute mistake, the sign was hung upside down on the table.
The lemonade is usually pre-made in a pitcher, the ice long since melted. Although, I remember one memorable encounter when I must have been the first customer of the day, even though it was late afternoon, when the young girl had to peel off the inner safety liner on the powdered canister of lemonade. She then intently read the directions, for it seemed like minutes, as she pondered whether to make an entire pitcher just for me, or just a glass. In the end she made just a glass for me but she followed the directions for making a pitcher. I gamely swallowed it in one gulp and bravely asked for another cup and watched her again dump multiple scoops of powder into the cup. I always get more than one cup, although that occasion did make me question my multiple cup buying habit. There also seems to be a certain age of all the lemonade stand proprietors. The little girls all seem to be from about 7 years old, up to about 12 years old. Much like an athlete is most productive during his 20’s, the prime age of lemonading seems to be those pre-teen years.
This lemonade stand had all the usual elements, small girl, homemade sign, old card table. If the key to business success is location, location, location, well then this lemonade stand was in serious trouble. Did I mention that it felt like I was in the middle of nowhere? The cardboard sign said that the lemonade was 2 for $1. I quickly took out a dollar and placed my order for 2 cups. The little girl was all smiles as she poured the lemonade into the cup. She told me it was…. “fresh, because I just made it today.” In fact it was pretty good and then I had an idea. I carry a reusable water bottle with me so I went to my truck and dumped out the rest of the water and asked the little girl how much would it be to fill up my bottle. She thought for a moment and then said $2. I told her that if she would fill it up for me I would giver her $5. Her eyes were as big as saucers and her smile wide as she poured the lemonade. I looked up as she was filling my bottle and her mother was on the porch watching our transaction. I gave her a wave as I headed back to my truck and the last I saw of the girl, she was running up the driveway to her mother with the money in her hand.
It didn’t even bother me when a short time later, a farmer pulled out in front of me in a combine that took up the whole road. I had a bottle of lemonade to drink, from a little girl with a wobbly card table and a homemade sign. It was “fresh, made that day.” The proprietor told me so.
Thought for the day…..
Always stop at lemonade stands no matter how busy you are.
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