Help Around the House

Relentless doorbell ringing and knocking yesterday afternoon forced me to open the door. To my surprise, the young gal (J) from across the street stood there with four of her local friends. They wished to perform some sort of yard work for cash.

I liked the idea of supporting their industriousness but found myself at a loss, my experience with kids limited. What did they expect to do and for how much? I asked what they planned to charge.

J admitted they were undecided. She suggested five dollars for a small yard, ten for a large. The others agreed. Unsure how to translate that, I consented when their persistent young spokesman mentioned raking around our tree.

It needed done and seemed simple enough. The children were elated. Despite confusing chatter from five excited kids, I determined that we were their first active clients.

Complications soon arose. They carried no tools of any kind. Could they borrow ours? Sure. I handed out our sole lawn rake and shop broom the littlest girl requested.

Where should they dump the leaves? I thought about having them scattered over the garden. They would likely blow away. So we went with garbage bags.

Next, a child appeared at the door asking for water. I gladly carried out five bottles and came back inside, sitting down to continue watching the video my husband paused.

Another knock. Now what? Once more hitting pause, my comfortable couch-bound guy snickered. Ha ha…

The kids needed more bags. Okay. Do you have a leaf blower? No. Sorry.

As his colleagues scurried about, the lead entrepreneur kept me captive, chattering about future plans for their company. How could I complain? He hoped to invest in a leaf blower at some point.

A good while later I answered the door one final time. Stammering with indecision, the young fellow estimated their available service hours and told me they would return the next afternoon. I deferred, suggesting we send a text message to J’s parents.

Of course that didn’t stop them banging on the door today. ~sigh~ Sad to say, I lacked the energy to face another eager inquisition and so my husband passed along the fact we had no current work needing done.

I have to say they worked hard, hand stuffing debris into the bags, even asking what we wanted done with the remaining leaf shreds. The yard looked fine as is, much better than before. Twice I praised their endeavors, once to the young man before he left. He took it in stride, saying a successful business required effort.

This little group did more than enough for what money we had on hand. That young fellow also apologized for all the interruptions toward the end, which was nice.

They were so cute I took a picture. Now I just need to figure out more work for them and make sure to have cash on hand.

Don’t you just love conscientious youths?

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