When Life Gives You Lemons, Make a Free Lemonade Stand
By: Scott Greer
Tags: Hope, Kindness, People, Joy, Children

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make a Free Lemonade Stand

A story of hope and kindness during uncertain times

The weather was perfect in Nashville. Mid 70s. Not a cloud in the sky. My four-year-old and I setup a pretend restaurant inside, but soon after he suggested something much better on a day like this: a lemonade stand.

As an alternative to charging people for lemonade in the middle of a pandemic, my wife had the idea of including an optional donation jar instead. She mentioned a few charities and my son chose the local children’s hospital as the beneficiary of the stand. We weren’t expecting anything more than a couple takers, but the response was beautiful. After being outside for just over an hour, we walked away with a jar full of generous donations from people around the neighborhood — most of whom were strangers.

My son was elated. At one point we encountered two cyclists speeding by our house, locked into their pedals and wearing proper biking outfits. As soon as the first rider saw a “Free Lemonade” sign with several young children behind it, he immediately smiled and put on his brakes. He walked up to the stand and my son grabbed two cups, then pointed to the other cyclist and said, “This one is for your buddy.” The rider replied, “That buddy is actually my son.” His son walked over and took the cup of lemonade, then the father pulled out a plastic bag from his backpack and grabbed a $20 bill to place into our donation jar. “This seems like a really good cause,” he said with a smile.

Moments later, we met a woman who worked at the children’s hospital and she was ecstatic to give us a donation in support of her employer. Everyone who passed by couldn’t have been more kind and appreciative. The total amount raised was $56.80, but it felt like a whole lot more. Our children were prepared to recruit the entire neighborhood for a free cup of lemonade. There was even a point where they proceeded to go door-to-door with some other kids trying to solicit people to buy the lemonade (forgetting that we weren’t actually selling it). Standing next to a bowl of lemons and a tray of lemonade, my son also asked at least five people: “Do you want some orange juice?”

Laughter and joy will pave the path back to normalcy in this world. The lemonade stand was a simple act that brought joy to people of all ages and gave me a renewed sense of hope. More often than not, joyful moments must be shared with other people. Our society will never heal itself in solitude. Activist Valarie Kaur offered up this powerful reminder in a recent interview with Baratunde Thurston: joy is “our greatest act of moral resistance” and “returns us to everything that is good, beautiful and worth fighting for.”

When times are tough and unpredictable, we still have the ability to take actions that require minimal effort and bring smiles to those around us. My hope for a post-coronavirus America is that we learn to foster more appreciation for people we’ve never met, along with an ability to understand that everyone has a unique perspective on the world. It’s not always easy, but this mentality serves as a way to appreciate the fact that— despite all of our differences—shared joy is the most unifying force that exists today.