Wait, They Charge You ?

Sometimes it can be difficult to explain things to a child.  There are certain concepts that, from the mind of a child, make virtually no sense.

Here's an example from today:
After spending about 4 hours in the hot sun (loading a 6 x 12 U-Haul trailer with the mostly dead sod from my front yard), my oldest sons got home from school.  After they ate a snack and checked in with mom, they joined me on a ride to Don's Garden Center.  This was the location I had chosen to "dump" the dead sod, because they charge a very low price for that amount of recyclable yard waste.

During the drive there I explained how I would be paying the owners of this shop for the privilege of giving them our sod.  This concept was easily understood until I explained that the owners will mulch and break down the dead sod, turning it into fill dirt and other fertilizer base.

Ben asked me "Oh, so then they give you that back for the yard?"

Well, no.  They keep it.

Josh Jr then asked "What do they do with it then?"

They sell it to people who need fill dirt or fertilizer.

Ben asked "So then they give you the money when they sell it?"

Well, no.  They keep that money.

At this point, both boys seemed angry.  The line of thinking was So they charge you to give them something that they are going to charge someone else to take?

The concept of time (months) and space (a place to keep all this stuff) were lost on my well-intentioned and reasonable boys.  It only got worse when they realized we would be unloading the whole trailer ourselves.

They don't even help you unload it?!

This is the front yard after the sod was cut and piled up.
Note the "crescent rolls" on the left.  Those were HEAVY!
 

Song Of The Day:
It's a TbT (throwback Thursday) so here is "True" by Spandau Ballet.  Despite the disbelief of my sons, what I was telling them was true.  Sometimes it is hard to understand things, but that doesn't make them any less true.

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