I just need some outside opinions on this paper I wrote for school. [Don't worry I already turned it in and everything so if you were squeamish about helping with homework.] My best friend [who is super-critical] doesn't like it, although she doesn't say it out loud, my mom thinks it's okay [but, ya know, she's my mom], and my teacher is a jack-a.. so he probably just hates it. I just need honest opinions from people who aren't biased or anything. :]
It's not technically creative writing, but watevs....

When the word “summer” is spoken several things immediately jump to the forefront of the mind: the end of school, sleeping in until noon, and—lemonade stands. Nothing teaches children about work ethic, money-managing skills, or responsibility like a lemonade stand. The first time we set up our little stand and watched the people smile as they drank our lemonade is not a memory easily replaced or a lesson effortlessly mimicked. Money was suddenly something to be worked for and not simply given out. A bad batch of lemonade cost money and cut into the ice cream fund. Advertising had to be unique to beat the competition, and lemonade served with a smile tasted better than that served with a frown. So many lessons were learned unknowingly, and through a fun experience.

It is hard to imagine someone telling a child her twenty-five-cent lemonade stand requires a permit and without it she better pack up and leave. Surprisingly enough that is what happened to a seven-year-old girl in Oregon much to the chagrin of her mother and nearby stall owners. The man who stood up for her and personally apologized was Multnomah County Chairman Jeff Cogen .

Something as simple as apologizing often akes more courage than the act is given credit. Merriam Webster defines an apology as “an admission of error or discourtesy accompanied by an expression of regret”. There is nothing complicated in that statement—at least not on paper. Apologies are merely acknowledgments of the consequences of pride, and politicians are well-known for their pride; cover-ups, pay-offs, excuses: all are used to save face. The efforts and expenses of such tactics beg the question of whether it would be easier to write a simple apology sincere or otherwise. But the problem here is not expense or effort; the problem is pride. A child refuses to apologize for stealing not because he or she believes they are in the right, but because they do not want to admit they were wrong. Who does not want to be right? Courage is displayed when a person apologizes with nothing to gain and everything to lose.
Children are often overlooked when it comes to apologizing. They have wonderfully forgiving natures and often forget wrongs quickly. The need to apologize is often forgotten or overlooked in the face of such easily-given forgiveness.

That, on the other hand, is not the only reason children are apologized to less. What adult wants to admit to a child that they have made a mistake? Adults are gods in a child’s eyes; everything and anything they do is right and to be emulated. It is hard enough to confess mistakes, but to confess an error to someone who willingly worships the air breathed by those taller than two feet is almost impossible. Such is a tremendously humbling undertaking.

Critics could also argue that Chairman Cogen’s interest in this tiny event showed that he is unfocused and inattentive to the important issues. How can he take time to apologize to a child when there are bigger problems to be handled by a government official? The people did not elect a man to make children feel better every time they feel slighted. But Chairman Cogen knows where his priorities should lie: the future generation.

In a political career one of the most important things to have is support, and especially support from the people who work with you. By admitting that the health inspectors had made a mistake Chairman Cogen ran the risk of alienating the health inspectors, and creating a rift between them that would make working with them difficult.

Chairman Cogen apologized with nothing to gain save the forgiveness of the little girl whose entrepreneurial day had been ruined. He could have yelled at the health inspectors who had threatened the child, or ignored such an insignificant event, but instead he apologized and even empathized with the budding capitalist. The risks he undertook, the accusation of wasting time and resources on something so unimportant and possibly creating enmity with the health inspectors who were just doing their job and the humility of an apology, were not earth-shattering or paramount, but were character-revealing. What Chairman Cogen risked unveiled his political courage and goodness. His compassion and thoughtfulness in considering the feelings of a child profoundly exposed his fine character.

This apology to a little girl does not lend itself to medals and honors; it is not worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize, and perhaps it is not even worth the news coverage it was given, but are we not told often enough to and “it’s the little things that count”? Perhaps this small act of selflessness and political courage is worth the local news and more. If the national or even global news covered this story, then maybe it would start people wondering. Maybe they would wonder why this seemingly immaterial story was featured instead of a gruesome murder or politically saturated war. Maybe they would wonder how often they apologize especially for the small things. Maybe this uplifting story would create hope instead of despair when people turned on their televisions or unfolded a newspaper. Maybe it would show people that politicians have the potential to be honest and selfless, and that not all of them are corrupt and self-serving. Maybe this uncomplicated event could revive the American people’s faith in their elected officials. There are a lot of ‘maybe’s in this paragraph, and perhaps the story of the little girl and her lemonade stand is being overanalyzed, but “hope is the most exciting thing in life…”.

Chairman Jeff Cogen’s politically courageous apology has the potential to inspire all who read the story and revive a country’s increasingly skeptical attitudes towards their leaders. At the very least he has stimulated a personal assessment of my own pride and lack of belief in those who are elected into office, and crafted a new respect for my own community leaders whether elected or otherwise.