my 17 cents

17 cents = the cost of my first purchase, which was 5 pencil top erasers at a New Jersey Kmart.

I REALLY wanted to buy something and, it was the end of the summer, so the naturally encased erasers on my pencils were totally burnt out.  Yes, even back then I made a zillion mistakes AND was a total dork.  What an ingenious idea those erasers were – so much pencil left and so many more mistakes to make, it was a dream come true for the longevity of my creative mastery through a writing utensil.  I NEEDED them. (PS - Yes, lead. It was 1983 or 1984.)  I was extremely satisfied with the performance of my purchase, especially the yellow eraser.  I still buy those damn erasers when duty calls.

I asked The Sales Guy what his first purchase was and his experience was the complete opposite of mine.  Man ‘o man did my question set off The Sales Guy.  He said, “It was some overpriced, used fishing lures some neighborhood kids sold me. I think I paid like 10 bucks for them.”  The lures “sucked” and he paid too much. However, he NEEDED them. 

So, this made me wonder… is this how it all began for The Sales Guy?  Did this initial purchase scar him for life and is that why he’s always trying to get a good deal?  J   Or, is it that he realized he could  make good money from selling? 

Do  you remember your first purchase?  I want to hear about it....