Just A Thought:

Everything will be all right in the end. If it is not all right, it is not yet the end.

Paulo Coelho

Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one's self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily, and why older persons, especially if vain or important, cannot learn at all.

— Thomas Szasz

A Good News Story I Loved and Wanted to Share

Someone called the cops on a lemonade stand in Kansas City — here’s what happened when law enforcement showed up.

Most kids running a lemonade stand worry about attracting customers, whether they have enough ice, and whether the lemonade tastes sweet enough. But Parez and Jakkhi Reese encountered a different problem after someone called 911 on them.

The two brothers had set up their neighbourhood lemonade stand in Kansas City, Kansas — something they'd been doing for years. But this week, a concerned caller contacted emergency services to report the boys' business. What happened next turned a potential buzzkill into one of the feel-good stories of the summer.

When police officers and firefighters arrived on the scene, they didn't shut the stand down. Officers and members of the fire department quickly became some of the boys' biggest customers.

Officer Morgan Reed was among the first to arrive and immediately started calling fellow officers, encouraging them to stop by and support the young business owners.

"I was just calling everybody — 'Hey, make sure you guys stop by the lemonade stand,'" Reed told KCTV.

Within 30 minutes, dozens of first responders had visited the stand and purchased drinks and snacks.

The best return on investment. In startup circles, founders dream of viral marketing — especially when word spreads without spending a single advertising dollar. Parez and Jakkhi Reese got law-enforcement-powered word-of-mouth advertising that led to a strong sales day.

Thanks to the unexpected influx of customers, the brothers made around $280 in sales in less than half an hour. That's not half bad for a business that started the day facing a police complaint instead of a line of customers.

The caller intended to stop the operation, but their call had the opposite effect. In financial terms, the complaint generated a spectacular return.

Officer Reed even returned the following day and spent another $40, continuing to support the boys' efforts.

We need more stories like these.