40 year old man- "Wow, thats cool!" 

7 year old kid-  "Yeah, what you do is go down to Toys r Us. It's about $100.00"

 This is the brief exchange that has me thinking tonight. 

That, refers to a Huffy Green Machine, an extremely advanced version of The Big Wheel of my childhood. It is very cool, low to the ground and fast, with jumpy steering, and an almost uncontrollable tendency to spin out. Believe me, this 40 year old guy remembers many a day racing down the driveway then slamming on the breaks of his first Big wheel. Riding and skidding so much that the hard plastic wheels wore through. Bottom line, it's a cool toy, but what has me thinking is the kids reply.  

You do just go down to Toys r Us. The little salesmen was a bit misleading bout the price though, the green machine retails for $129.99. As I heard the kid ride away I looked back at my wife who was walking a few paces behind me, She rolled her eyes and said "yep, heard the whole thing," I rolled my eyes and we kept walking. The path we were on circles around a few ball fields and we encountered the green machine again, this time followed by a little brother trailing in some battery powered toy car/suv monstrosity ( the only time my son has driven one of these vehicles, he ran over his cousin). 

Personally, I'm a pretty frugal guy, I don't spend much, I drive a 9 year old car, and I really don't believe in spending $100.00 on a toy. Mind you,in an effort at full disclosure,  my son has hundreds, nay thousands of dollars worth of stuff all over the floor of his room, Legos, matchbox, you name it. But I do try to limit spending, and talk with my son about saving and earning and the value of things. Maybe I'm being harsh, and the kid who said it's about a $100.00 was just trying to be helpful, but it certainly sounded more boastful. Where I live not everyone can afford $100.00 for a toy. My wife said he had it figured out already and he'll be driving something faster through our town in about ten years.

It then started to become clear to me, This kid and his brother, could singlehandedly save our economy. OK, maybe not tomorrow, but can't you picture these kids in a new car every two years? I'm not talking bout a new Civic mind you, I mean a real get the economy on its feat new car, something screaming fast and prone to spin out.

We went off in opposite directions and I looked back to see the boys father walking behind them, looking every bit the well to do suburban dad. I never saw them drive away, but I'd guess they did in a Porsche Cayenne. It's about $45,000