ThinkerDaniel: 2006

I can say from personal experience that some lessons are hard to learn. This weekend Ethan learned an important lesson that he will hopefully remember. He had to sell Scout-O-Rama tickets to earn money for Cub Scouts. Unforntunately for Ethan I had him start in a very busy public courtyard in front of a movie theater. He was scared, shy and he started to cry. I tried to encourage him as best as I could. The Cub Scout leader showed up with his sons. One of the sons was energetic and very brave. He ran right up to people and was selling tickets like crazy. Ethan was more concerned about visiting his buddy than selling. In one hour he sold only four tickets. We took a break for dinner. I offered him an incentive that he REALLY wanted. If he sold ten tickets, I would get him a pack of Yugio cards. Well, in the next two hours that boy hustled around like there was no tomorrow. He sold a total of 12 tickets by the time we were done. Not great, but great for Ethan. By the end of it, he was having fun and actually liked doing it. He clued in on the "tricks" (asking only women) very quickly. The next day he sold another eight tickets in front of Michael's craft store in less than an hour. I think the biggest lesson this weekend was learned by me. A simple motivator like a $4 pack of trading cards can go a long way.