And then he sold his birthright for some soup…

The Nirvana economy is not unlike that of major countries. Those in charge met for a financial summit to determine the outcome of the poorest Nirvana citizens. After much negotiation, it was decided that a welfare system of allowances would be enacted. Reid (5) is now receiving $2/week and Ryan (7) is receiving $3 per week.

The new economic policies have benefited me the most. My recorded message at the store is no longer “no”. I just state what items are eligible for Nirvana government reimbursement and what will be the responsibility of its citizens.

Ryan has become a bank. A fortress of savings and loaning. The Bank also is involved in all purchase negotiations with OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY. The Bank believes that he knows best. The Bank is a bit sneaky and is on the Nirvana government watch list.

Reid’s money burns a swift hole in his pocket. He lays it down hot potato-style at Target mere moments after it is issued. The Bank supervises all purchases issuing high interest partial loans when it was to the Bank’s benefit.

On the last Target trip the Bank was using strong arm tactics to spend Reid’s money for his own benefit. I stepped in freezing the Bank’s assets until a full audit could be conducted assuring a S&L crisis aversion. Reid set his sights on a more expensive toy then he could purchase under current economic conditions and went home with money in pocket.

A few days later I was surprised when Reid mentioned that he had no money. We hadn’t been anywhere that he could spend it. I had even recently seen it in his kitchen jar.

“Where did the money go?” I asked.

“I gave it to Ryan.” Reid answered.

“Why?”

“Because he helped me.”

“Oh, that is nice.” I replied suspiciously.

“RYAN!!!!” I called.

“Where is Reid’s money?”

“Reid doesn’t have any money.”

“He did this morning. What happened since then?”

“Oh, he paid me.”

“Paid you for what?”

“To get his clothes out of the closet this morning.”

“How much did he pay you?”

“$5.50″

“Wow. That seems generous of him to spend 2 1/2 weeks worth of allowance. Why would he do that?”

“I told him there was a spider in there.”

Nice.

Reid was informed that both Rhett and I would have helped him for free. Ryan had created an artificial demand for clothes retrieval services through spider guerrilla marketing resulting in significant price gouging…