If you are from the Williamsport, Pennsylvania area, you know that Grit was a newspaper published in Williamsport for 111 years, before moving to Topeka, Kansas in 1993. What you probably don’t know is that when I was a kid living in Colorado, I was briefly a Grit “newsboy,” getting a shipment of newspapers every other week delivered to our house, and trying to peddle them door to door. I don’t remember how I started this side hustle as a 10-year old, but I remember why. In my memory, there was an incentive to sell a certain number of papers. I wanted that pocket knife prize in the worst way. My employment lasted just long enough to earn that pocket knife, and then I ended my newsboy career. I was a terrible newsboy. I worked pretty hard at it, but I was shy, and lacked the grit necessary to sell Grit. I still have the pocket knife, though, and in fact, used it this weekend to do a little whittling.
My career as a Mason shoe salesman began and ended shortly after my stint with Grit. It is possible that my mom was my only customer, and the only thing I gleaned from this experience was a knowledge of terms for types of women’s shoes, and the understanding that door to door sales were not in my wheelhouse.
These days, no parent in their right mind would let a 10-year old go alone to knock on the doors of strangers to earn a little money. Maybe that’s what the knife was for. Instead, when kids belong to teams for which they need to raise funds, their parents just bring in the form to work and bully their coworkers into buying a bunch of over priced crap they don’t want. It’s a win-win. The child’s safety is assured, and the kids never even actually have to know who bought what, how much money they brought in or even what they are selling. Had my children actually been part of any teams, I’m sure I would have employed this same tactic. It’s part of the social contract. That said, I buy Girls Scout cookies from any kid who asks me because I know how hard it is to make a sale, and thin mints are the bomb-diggity. Again, win-win.
If you are still reading, you may be wondering, “What does any of this have to do with Ben?” Honestly, very little. I just have not been cooking much with Ben in the last month since Phil (Sabbatical Boy) has taken the cooking reins. I have been working really hard to get my school year off the ground, and Phil has done all the cooking.
We are making the most of a beautiful Labor Day weekend. Phil reports that having Labor Day off tomorrow will be the first time he hasn’t worked on that day since 1983. I haven’t crunched the numbers, but given that he has been continuously employed since second grade (and I’m not kidding) I think it probably checks out.
Here’s a run down of our weekend, though I seem to be taking a hiatus from taking pictures, too.
When we got back, I used my Grit knife to smooth the end of a walking stick. Then I burned an image of a hummingbird into the wood. The curve of the wood distorts the image a bit so he looks like an angry bird.
We are excited to spend tomorrow enjoying the beautiful weather in the Triumph to round out the long weekend.
Ready for a puzzle? Try our connections game. Click on 4 things you believe have a connection, then hit submit. Do this until all 16 have been placed in four categories. Sure you could give up or skip trying altogether, but you won’t. You’ve got True Grit.
https://connections.swellgarfo.com/game/-O5jy-csy4J8wNxm_Qof