I hesitantly glanced through the peephole, and decided to ignore them because (1) I was feeling evil, (2) I was convinced they were going to try to sell me something and (3) I have been conditioned by this unfeeling and ill mannered environment. Koks was rushing around the apartment, and was getting bugged by our rapping monkey doorbell, so he opened the door, told the boy we didn't want anything and shut the door.
"Oh no, i feel kinda bad now. The boy was quite adorable," said Koks.
I pondered for a second, and went to open the door.
Me: Hi, how can I help you?
Boy: Hi, good afternoon. I'm a boy scout from XXX school, it is job week this week. Is there any household chore that I can help you with?
Me: *bursts out in laughter* What can you do???
Boy: I can help you throw away newspapers, or sweep the floor.
Me: Oh my god, you're like Russell visiting Mr. Fredricksen in Up.
(Boy 2 joins from neighbour's apartment)
Boy 2: Oh! Your son is a boy scout too?? (kiddo, do i look like i could have a son your age, you @#*^%#*&^%#)
Me: No, i mean Russell from the movie Up, who goes to visit Mr. Fredricksen.
Boy 2: We have a Russell in our Boy Scouts Team too!!
Me: *rolls eyes* Okay, come in come in. Let's find you something to do.
So I let boy 1 and boy 2 (now known to me as the 2 Russells) into the apartment. Of course, the apartment was spanking clean, and i wasn't going to let the boys destroy that. So i got them to put my freshly cut flowers into a vase (Boy 1: We have to cut the stems at a slant, so that the flowers can absorb more water) and water my plants on the verandah (Boy 2: I had to be careful when watering your plants so as not to flood the roots. Do you know the roots could rot that way and die??).
Thereafter, i gave them each a cup of apple juice (with aloe vera bits, of course), signed their job week cards, gave them 10 bucks each and sent them on their way. What a lovely surprise it turned out to be! It kept me smiling (and laughing inside) for the rest of the Sunday and made me feel good to play Mr. Fredricksen for a while. It's great to be able to help a stranger, particularly when they are kids going out trying to learn how to earn money!
i was a scout and absolutely hated job week because the only people who would let us help them were old people who would then make us do everything in the house like cleaning things that obviously hadn't been cleaned in years
ReplyDeleteand forget about earning 10 bucks. we'd get $1 or $2.
They did say that the hardest part was just getting people to open the doors. One guy got them to call the recycling company to come collect his bag of recyclables... when it's a scheduled bi-weekly pick-up service! Yes, they too mentioned that most of the time they'd get 2 bucks.
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