COMMENTARY
A painful and expensive lesson

By Linda Tagawa

The "hottest" new item to hit Jason's neighborhood was the Heely. Only a few kids had those fancy sneakers with built-in wheels underneath, but they were taking off like wildfire and all the kids wanted them.

"Pleeease, Mommy!," Jason begged. He really wanted a pair of Heelys. His big brown eyes stared into his mother's face as she rinsed the supper dishes.

She never looked up. "So how much are you talking about?"

"Umm, only one hundred dollars."

"Wat? A hundred dollars? How many shoes you tink you can buy wit that money? You tink money grows on trees?" his mother replied, continuing with the dishes. "No, Jason. I don't tink so!"

Jason went into the living room. His dad had just settled into a comfortable chair to read the newspaper.

"Dad! I going use my own money."

He heard Dad's voice behind the newspaper. "So, how much?"

"Only one hundred dollars! I already saved some money!"

He sure sounded convincing, but this was a home with three huge, strapping, hungry teenage boys and two practical, hard-working parents.

"Too expensive! Besides, you have roller blades and lots of other things. You don't need sneakers with wheels." His dad's booming voice had the sound of finality.

But as the weeks went by, Jason was relentless. He tried to convince his parents that he really needed Heelys every chance he got, but each time, the answer was the same, "No, Jason."

Come hell or high water, he was determined to get those Heelys. Day after day, he looked for odd jobs to earn extra money.

He helped his mom sell flowers at the swap meet, and when he visited Grandpa on the farm, he pitched in with the chores. He saved a dollar here and a few dollars there and his savings grew and grew.

Then one day he hit the jackpot: Grandma sent a check for his birthday. "That's it! Yippee!," he yelled, running to find his parents. "See! Now I have enough to buy a Heely!"

Mom and Dad looked at one another and finally caved in. "Well, he did work hard all these months and saved up all his nickels and dimes," Mom said.

And so Jason and his dad went to the bike shop and bought a brand new silver-gray pair of Heelys the day before his 10th birthday.

It was a beautiful, sunny day when he woke that day. He gobbled his breakfast, grabbed his new sneakers, and ran out the door to meet his friends. Proudly, he slipped on his Heely and cruised around the parking lot.

No more than 15 minutes had gone by when, "BAM! BAM! BAM!" someone began pounding on the front door.

"Jason's dad! Jason's dad! Jason's hurt!," called a young voice from outside.

The hospital X-rays showed two broken bones; Jason's arm had to be placed in a cast.

The word spread around the entire neighborhood about Jason's broken arm. Jason became an instant star. A stream of parents filed through the house with their kids in tow. The message was the same. "So, you still like one Heely? Dis wat you going get! You like one broken arm, too?"

Eventually, Jason's arm healed and his cast was removed. The cast and Jason's Heelys now are piled on the sports rack, like old trophies. They're reminders of the hard and expensive lesson. The cost to Jason was much more than the price of the shoes. It cost him a lot of pain and pride.

Today, there's not a whole lot of Heely action going on in Jason's parking lot, and the kids in the neighborhood no longer bug their parents about buying Heelys. And Jason is very careful of what he asks for because he knows the next time, he just might get it.

Linda Tagawa is a school teacher and has four grown children.