Let Me Tell You About Inflation Kid

 The young man at the counter was probably about 10 or 11. He hadn't come to Ayers Hardware and Variety to get anything in the hardware department. He and his friend were there for the variety items, specifically, they were there for candy and a soda.

I remember doing the same thing at his age. Summer days in the 70s meant a walk up Route 24 with my best friend, Suzanne. Our destination was 7-11, and our choices were a soda and a snack. My go-to was a Dr. Pepper and a Slim Jim. Suzanne was a Mountain Dew girl, her pairing was usually a bag of Fritos. I have fond memories of those walks, which we usually took barefoot. Honestly, most of the summer was spent barefoot.

So, I watched intently this afternoon as the young man waited for his friend to pay before he placed his items on the counter. He had some delightful choices: a cold Pepsi and a dispenser of Bubble Yum tape. The cashier rang up his items and I'd say we were both surprised to hear that the total was $2.50. He did an obvious double-take before slowly reaching into the pockets of his blue gym shorts. He pulled out his young-man wad of ones and was obviously disappointed when his wad of ones turned out to be two folded dollar bills. His face fell a bit before he pushed the Bubble Yum tape back toward the cashier.

"Uhm, can I just put this back?"

The cashier was just about to delete the item. In that second all those memories of Suzanne and I came rushing back. 

"I'll spot him the 50 cents," I piped up.

Because after all, how often are you presented with the opportunity to help someone and go back 50 years at the same time?