Caren Krutsinger Poet Free verse

Selling Door To Door

Do you remember being an optimistic fifth-grader, selling door to door?
Flower seeds?  Candy bars?  Potato chips? House plants?  Tickets to the fifth-grade Thanksgivings feast?
Adding up the prizes in your head.
If we sell $300 worth of merchandise, we would win a radio, and a cassette player.
If we sell $200 we could at least get the cassette player.
If we sell $100 worth we will earn a sweatshirt, which we will have to share,
My sister and I,
Not fair, as I am
Out here selling,
While she is inside 
Eating peppermint ice cream.
We are going to be millionaires
Someday, selling door to door.
I start dreaming of the money we will make.
If we make a dollar a week, in a year, we will have $52 dollars.
Fifty-two dollars, a fortune in the 60’s to a fifth-grader.
Not such a big deal to the fifth-graders of today.  A mere fifty-two dollars?
How many sacks of groceries will it buy?
Possibly one.
And who wants children selling door to door?
There are things behind those doors I had no idea about, when I was a child.
I wish I could still be ignorant about that.

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Kai Michael Neumann October 18, 2018 at 2:33 AM And then the doors open and money fades. Hard to remember that innocence and happiness are not for sale... Caren Krutsinger October 18, 2018 at 8:24 AM It is so hard to remember, and I wish we all could somehow protect ourselves and others from ever finding out.

Eve Roper October 18, 2018 at 1:06 AM Oh my,,, something I didn't do when I was young.. My parents didn't wander away from home. I did do it after I got older, Lady Lioness fundraising , Church fundraisers.. School fundraising and I use to have a blast.. Thank you so much for always encouraging me on my work ... It means so much.. Caren Krutsinger October 18, 2018 at 1:07 AM You are so welcome, Eve. I hope that you are having a lovely middle-of-the-morning-time. I do believe you are!

Rhona Mcferran October 17, 2018 at 1:49 PM Times have definitely changed, I can't imagine having a child do that now... I remember doing this when I was in fifth grade, too- although, I was so terrible at selling things I think I was only asked to do it once! hahahaha Caren Krutsinger October 17, 2018 at 2:35 PM My twin and I used to sail through neighborhoods selling to anyone who would buy. We met a lot of nice people, sometimes stopping to visit with new friends for an hour or so. We had great fun!

Line Gauthier October 17, 2018 at 1:16 PM Indeed ignorance is bliss. How times have changed. Caren Krutsinger October 17, 2018 at 1:23 PM They truly have, and it is sad.