In which we crash (because the children).
My wife and I exited the grocery store and met up, having checked out separately. Turns out we inadvertently had each bought a selection of bagels. The exact same kind and quantity from the bakery.
EXCEPT...one of us paid twenty cents LESS than the other for the IDENTICAL bagels. In case you're wondering...
...it was me.
Some of us just like to pay that extra bit of attention to detail when checking out, and knowing how important it is to be aware of those things, I truly gave my full attention at checkout.
Pennies today, our children's future college tuition tomorrow.
I know it's so unfashionable to say, but I really think that children are our future, or at least should be involved in it a little. And I know I'm going to take a lot of heat for saying this, but I also think that education is important.
So when I look at a bagel, I don't just see a delicious mobile breakfast option with 650 empty calories; I see our children's future, and I am so happy - in a totally smug way - that I was able to invest twenty cents in our children's future this evening.
My hope is that by setting this example, we can help those close to us realise the value of inspecting prices and receipts carefully, and, in a butterflyish-effecty kind of way, truly change the world. Because - and
criticize me all you want for saying this - I believe in a better world for everyone. I stand by that.
And that is why I will eat my bagel in a socially-conscious way tomorrow, knowing that I have done my part. And in a beautiful world...someday, SOMEDAY, perhaps all of us can look in the mirror and speak those words aloud to ourselves. I am investing in the children's future, twenty cents at a time.
But tonight, I'm the only one that gets to do that. You're welcome, children. Love you, Becca Nutter Long.