The "Hey....10 Cents For A Cup Of Lemonade!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Trying to remember back to the early 1950s when I was a young boy trying to make a few nickels or dimes selling lemonade in front of my house in the 900 block of North Queen Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  At the end of the block, to the north, sat the Lancaster Train Station.  Many a summer day I would sell a couple of pitchers of lemonade  to passengers who had just exited the train and began walking south on North Queen Street....right past my house and lemonade stand towards the city of Lancaster.  I used paper cups in which I would put an ice cube and fill with lemonade.  

Back then, many more people would walk toward the city of Lancaster rather than today when most people hop in their car parked in the parking lot or take a taxi ride into Lancaster.  I used my mom and dad's card table and placed a hand-made sign on three sides of it so customers from all directions could see what I was selling.  My lemonade stand was fairly popular during the 6 years that I had it open while I was in elementary school.  I remember keeping it open on certain days of the week, depending upon the train schedule.  My mom would make me keep a record of how much I sold so the two of us could figure out how much I made after paying her for the lemonade and the paper cups.  I learned quite a bit of information during those years.  Learned how to prepare my lemonade as well as how to attract people to my stand along North Queen Street.  Also learned about a variety of people.  Some were very nice and told me to keep the change from their quarter while others stood and counted the change I would give them to make sure I didn't cheat them.  Some were talkative while others just wanted something to drink and off they would go.  It's been over 70 years since I had my lemonade stand on the last block of North Queen Street.  Still can see that stand in my mind every time I drive north on Queen Street.  Did I learn much from having the lemonade stand?  Well, I learned about every type of person there is.  The kind, talkable, friendly and even nasty people who all wanted a cup of lemonade as they walked away from my stand.  And, every time I drink a glass or cup of lemonade today, I think back to those days when I was somewhat afraid to talk to people, but learned so much from selling my lemonade to them.  I still believe that having that stand helped me make my decision to be a teacher after graduating from college.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.