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Category:
Inspirational
Publisher: Ironwood Publications
Type: Non-Fiction
Price: $0.99 (eBook)
A book of inspirational essays designed to enhance your thoughts and lift your spirits.
Do you want to be happier? Do you want to improve the quality of your life? The essays in this book can help you enhance your thinking and become happier. Readers have found these essays inspiring and very helpful in improving the quality of their thoughts and their lives. Below are the testimonials of some of those readers:
“For years I have checked books on positive thinking from our library….I can truthfully say your articles have helped me more than anything I have ever read.”—Wilda Sherron, Paducah, KY
“I have found vicarious advice, guidance, and sometimes peace of mind since having access to your column. Many thanks!”—Margaret Maasch, Fort Pierce, FL
“I have enjoyed these wonderful materials immensely! The writings have really encouraged me and help me cope with life….God bless you for helping all of us people who desperately need encouragement and positive help.”—Judy Arnold, Tucson, AZ
“I wanted to let you know how uplifting your articles are to me. I can’t thank you enough for being able to read something positive and uplifting when we read so much bad news that brings us down.”—Jeannie Hartley, Tipton, IN
“I enjoy your articles every week. I have cut out several and put them in a scrap book with the hope that my kids and grandkids will someday read them and apply the lessons to their lives.”—Rosemary Hardy, Paris IL
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Excerpt
1
The Fantastic Bug Exterminator
“Hey, look at this!” Andy said. “This is just the kind of thing I was looking for. It sounds just perfect.”
Andy handed the magazine to Dave Jackson, his best friend and next-door neighbor.
Dave read the ad while Andy looked over his shoulder and read it again.
EARN FAST, EASY MONEY with small investment and little work. Become a distributor for our fantastic new bug exterminator. It kills all garden bugs, spiders, roaches, ants, and even mosquitoes. This product is guaranteed to kill any and all harmful garden and household bugs, if used exactly as directed. Buy wholesale from us at one dollar each, and sell to your friends and neighbors for five dollars each. Minimum order twenty.
“What do you think, Dave?” Andy asked, as soon as Dave had finished reading the ad.
“I don’t know, ‘Andy. It sounds almost too good to be true.”
“But it says it’s guaranteed,” Andy argued. “See, it says right there that it’s guaranteed to kill any and all harmful garden and household bugs.”
“Yeah, it does say that,” Dave admitted. “But you’ve got to order a minimum of twenty.”
“But just think of all the profit, Dave. Four dollars profit on each one adds up to eighty dollars! This is just the kind of opportunity I’ve been looking for. A way to make lots of money fast.”
“But what if you can’t sell all of them?” Dave asked.
“That won’t be any problem at all,” Andy said. “Everybody’s got bugs of some kind in their garden or in their house. I’ll bet I could sell a hundred of them. But I’m just going start out with twenty.”
“Andy, I think you’d better talk to your dad before you send in that order,” Dave said.
“I don’t want Dad to know about this until after the order comes in,” Andy said.
“He wouldn’t let me send it in if he knew about it. He always thinks somebody’s trying to cheat you through these mail order ads.”
“Maybe he’s right.”
“Not on this one,” Andy insisted. “I can just feel it in my bones. This is just right for me. And besides, it is guaranteed to work.”
Dave tried to talk Andy out of plunging into the project, but Andy was determined. He had been trying to find a way to earn a lot of money ever since Miss Scott, his first grade teacher, had made a big deal about the fact that his name included parts of the names of three of America’s most famous businessmen: Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and Henry Ford. And every time Andy got a new idea on how to make money, he was determined to try it, no matter what anybody said.
Andy sent the order in that very day using the twenty-dollar bill his grandmother had given him for his birthday. The very next day, Andy began going from house to house, trying to get advance orders.
Dave was with Andy when he approached Mrs. Garfield, who lived just across the street and had one of the biggest gardens in Pepperville. She was in her garden, pulling weeds, when the boys arrived.
“Hello boys,” Mrs. Garfield said. “What can I do for you?”
“It’s not what you can do for us, but what we can do for you that we’re here to talk about,” Andy said very business like.
“Oh?” Mrs. Garfield seemed both curious and amused at Andy’s statement. “What can you do for me, Andy?”
“I can supply you with a fantastic new bug exterminator that’ll get rid of all your bugs, both in your garden and in your house, for only five dollars,” Andy said, as he teetered up and down on his tiptoes, with both hands in his pockets.
“Oh, really now? And just how does this fantastic new bug killer work?’ Mrs. Garfield asked.
“Uh, well, I’m not really sure, Ma’am. But it does work. It’s guaranteed to work.”
“Well, can I have a look at it, then?” Mrs. Garfield asked.
“I don’t have any,” Andy said. “But I’ve got me twenty ordered.”
“I see,” Mrs. Garfield said.
“I’m afraid they’re gonna sell out awful fast, though. “So I thought I’d give you a chance to be the first person to order one from me,” Andy said.
“That’s real thoughtful of you, Andy,” Mrs. Garfield said. “But I’m afraid I’ve got some serious doubts about your bug killer. I’ll tell you what. If it works the way you say it does, I’ll give you ten dollars for one. But if it doesn’t work, then I’m not obligated to buy it. Does that sound fair, Andy?”
“Yes ma’am. That sounds real fair,” Andy said.
Andy was jubilant as he and Dave left Mrs. Garfield’s house.
“Just think,” he said. “If she pays ten dollars, that’ll be nine dollars profit instead of four. And if Mrs. Garfield is willing to pay ten dollars, I’ll bet other people will pay that much too.”
After leaving Mrs. Garfield’s house, Andy and Dave went from door to door throughout Pepperville, but Andy didn’t get a single firm order. Like Mrs. Garfield, several people said they’d buy the exterminator if it worked the way Andy said it would. But they’d have to see it work before they’d buy one.
Andy didn’t seem a bit discouraged, though. He was sure the bug killer would work. It had to work. It was guaranteed to work.
So, over the next couple of weeks, while Andy waited for his shipment of fantastic bug exterminators to arrive, he spent a lot of time trying to decide what he was going to do with all that profit he was going to make.
“I don’t know whether to put it in the bank or use it to buy more exterminators,” Andy said to Dave one afternoon, just a week after sending in his order.
“Well, there’s a limit to how many you can sell, even if they do work,” Dave said. “There’s only so many people in Pepperville.”
“Yeah, but there’s lots of people over in Elmwood. I’ll bet I could sell hundreds over there.”
“But Elmwood is ten miles from here, Andy. How you going to get over there?”
“Dave, with the kind of profits I’m going to be making, I reckon I can hire somebody to drive me over there.
“If things work out the way you think they’re going to,” Dave cautioned.
“They will, Dave. You just wait and see,” Andy said confidently.
When the time for the order to arrive neared, Andy and Dave stood out by the mailbox at mail time for several days in a row before the mailman finally delivered a box addressed to Andrew Rockefeller Ford, III. Andy was just bubbling over with excitement as he took the box from the mailman. Andy’s parents and his brother, Rex, were not home at the time, so Andy would be able to open the box and have the exterminators ready to show them when they returned.
“It sure doesn’t look like a very big box to have twenty exterminators in it,” Dave said. “They must be awfully small.
“Yeah, but they’re sure heavy,” Andy said, as he carried the box toward the house.”
When the boys reached Andy’s front porch, Andy put the box down.
“Okay, let’s open it right here,” Andy said. The suspense is killin’ me.”
Andy ripped at the top of the box as if he were digging for gold. When the box was open, the boys discovered that it was filled with tiny paper bags that were stapled at the top.
Andy grabbed a bag and tore it open. Out came two tiny blocks of wood and a small piece of paper. Andy’s face began to pale.
“This must just be packin’ material to protect the exterminators,” he said, wishfully, as he pawed frantically through the box. He threw out paper bag after paper bag until he had reached the bottom of the box.
“I don’t understand,” Andy said, as his face got whiter and whiter. “Where are the exterminators?”
“They’re right here, all over the porch floor,” Dave said.
“They can’t be!” Andy screamed. “These are just little old plain blocks of wood.”
“Not quite, Andy,” Dave said. “They’ve got letters painted on them. Each bag’s got one block with the letter A on it, and another block with the letter B on it.”
“So what!” Andy screamed. “What does that mean?”
“Here, Andy, read the directions,” Dave said, as he handed Andy the small piece of paper from one of the bags.
As Andy read the directions he began to feel sick all over.
DIRECTIONS FOR USING
FANTASTIC BUG EXTERMINATOR
1. Catch bug and place it on black A.
2. Pick up block B.
3. Push block B firmly against block A, crushing the bug between the two blocks.
Andy tried awfully hard not to cry, but he soon lost the battle.
“They cheated me! They cheated me!” he screamed as the tears started to come.
Andy was still crying when his parents and brother drove into the driveway. He quickly wiped the tears from his eyes with his handkerchief, but he couldn’t hide his emotions from his own parents.
Andy’s Dad really got mad when Andy told him what he’d done.
“Andy! How many times do I have to tell you not to squander money!” he said angrily. “Now let’s see that ad. Maybe we can get your money back.”
Andy nervously ran his fingers through his blond hair, occasionally grasping a handful of hair and pulling on it, as his father read the ad.
“There’s nothing we can do,” Mr. Ford said. “This ad is misleading, but it’s perfectly legal, because what they say is true.”
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