I had a bit of a unique experience on Monday night. The evening was carrying on as it often does in our household. My wife was working her remote job diligently in her home office, my oldest son was hiding away in his room like the preteen he’s becoming, and the toddler and i were relaxing downstairs, watching cartoons and doing laundry. Around 7 p.m., we got a doorbell ring. For the most part, our neighbourhood is pretty quiet and we rarely have someone come to our, with the notable exception of food delivery or the few door-to-door salespeople we get in the summer.
In answering the door, two young boys were standing there. Perhaps 12 or 13 years old, they were exactly what you would expect of boots their age. A bit disheveled but not necessarily dirty, hair all over the place and a kind of contained, quiet energy that they would access to at any moment. They asked me if I would like them to rake my front yard. I know a lot of people who would have simply said go ahead but this is 2024… I asked them how much they charge. They asked me what I thought was fair, so I told them if they would completely rake the front yard and bag the leaves, I would give them $20 each. I would even provide the bags. They agreed and went to the front yard to wait.
They had an interesting combination of eagerness and wariness and when I brought the rakes and bags to them, they actually asked me if I planned to rip them off. I asked them what they meant and they indicated that they’ve had a few households refuse to pay them afterwards. I flourished two crisp 20-dollar bills and explained that they knew where I lived and knew I was in the house. Refusal to pay would warrant them getting their parents involved and MAKING me pay, which seemed to satisfy them. The fact that some folks reneged on payment bothered me more than the fact they asked the question. I also explained that so long as they raked the yard properly and collected all the leaves, they would get paid. They soon got to work.
I did warn them that they only had about an hour of daylight left before it would start getting dark and it would be difficult to spot any missed leaves. My two sons were fascinated and were watching out the window. It was a good learning lesson for them as, at their age, I would have been the one doing the raking. My father wouldn’t have paid someone else to do it. I explained all of this to them. My toddler was totally on board with raking. My oldest kind of shrugged and retreated to the sanctuary of his room.
Shortly, the doorbell rang again and the boys said they were done. I stepped outside to “inspect” their work and I have to admit, the front yard looked pretty sweet. I fulfilled my part of the deal and paid them each their $20. I got to talking to them a bit and asked if they’d had the opportunity to do many yards in the neighbourhood. They replied that they hadn’t as many residents either didn’t want them doing it or planned on doing it themselves. They were trying to make and save up some money so they could pay for things throughout the summer.; something I rarely see in today’s youth, including my own children.
What was nice about this occurrence and why I felt it important to write about it is, I fancy myself as someone who doesn’t paint everyone with the same brush. It’s easy to consider modern youth to be tethered to their devices, vane and entitled and typically lazy. I’ll go out on a limb and admit that I’ve met many who are like this. The important lesson and the little ray of hope for the future, is that there are still those select few who will work for what they want or need and aren’t afraid to put themselves out there instead of hiding behind a screen. It reminded me a bit of myself when I was a kid. ☯️
The Blogging Buddhist 