“So, to paraphrase, you are telling me I can continue to have my yearly pool party for my birthday after school lets out for the summer, or I can have a stack of cash money, dollars, greenbacks, placed in my outstretched hand if I don’t have the party?”
…..
I honestly don’t remember how old I was when my parents gave me this choice. But I do know that they were tired of the expense and the mess of having lots of children running around their house and backyard for a day. The cake, gift bags, games, food – it all adds up and adds up quickly. And, did I mention the mess? All those dripping little bodies jumping out of the pool and running through the house… One year we even accidentally tracked some blood through the house when one of the partyers cut their foot on the bottom of the pool and didn’t realize it.
Whoops.
So, they presented me with a different option. If I gave up the pool party (and a party of any kind other than the one my immediate family would always throw on the occasion of my birth), they would pay me close to what it would cost them to buy the supplies, prizes, cake, etc… Money to do with as I pleased: put it in savings, buy some new gizmo or gadget or action figure, put it in savings, spend it at the arcade, put it in savings, buy comic books, and, yes, put it in savings.
They may have strongly encouraged me to save, save, save from a very young, age, age, age… Perhaps.
Anyway, I was presented with quite the dilemma. Should I continue to have my pool parties? They were something I looked forward to all year long. Should I, as they say, take the money and run? I did enjoy having money in my wallet (and bank account).
What to do, what to do? I wanted both. I even tried to angle for less money and only a small party, but my parents were wise to my game and they held firm on their one or the other stance. (Rude, right? Yeah, well, parents… so, what can you do?) What to do, what to do? It was a definite approach-approach conflict. Perhaps the first such conflict of my life.
What would you have done?
Me? I opted for the cash, after much deliberation and hand wringing…
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
I was promptless, and then Queen Creative showed up and I was prompted again:

Approach-approach conflict is the psychological conflict that results when a choice must be made between two desirable alternatives
Suggested Prompts:
- Give us an example of a time when you chose between two desirable alternatives
- Write a poem about the psychological struggle of choice
- Show us a picture about resolution, or decision-making, or approach-approach conflict
- Tell us about your own decision making process
- … or make up your own related prompt!
Door number two! Cash is good. Who needs their friends peeing in the pool?
Yeah! That’s what brothers are for anyway…
Keep it in the family… uh… so to speak…
Exactly! Nothing matters so much as blood… wait, what?
No bleeding in the pool… that’s our family motto… and we don’t even have a pool…
Good motto.
Our family motto is, “We’ll pay you to stop doing something we don’t want to deal with anymore.” It’s a bit long though, so we shortened it to: “How much to buy you off?”
I wish my family would buy me off once in a while.
Have you left hints? Made suggestions?
Oh yeah.
Well, then you just need a better family.
I know, right?
Yes. Definitely.
We are not living the American dream at all.
Well, I am… and that’s good enough for me.
Now that is a good American answer!
😀
That’s what I’m here for.
No… that’s what I am here for.
Interesting theory.
If you say so.
I do. I did. It’s right there!!
I can always edit that out.
On your blog, maybe. But this is my, my own, my precio*hack hack*… sorry. My blog! You don’t have that kind of power here.
I forgot where I was…
I had to look to make sure. These things happen.
Of course they do.
*waving white flag* you win! go ahead and have the last word.
no.
Please?
ok
Hooray!
Indeed.
Grab the cash, and just invite the good friends over to hang out at the pool.
That might have worked one at a time, but my parents are pretty smart they wouldn’t have gone for the “no, it’s not a party, I’m just inviting ten people over to go swimming” idea…
I would’ve taken the cash, as well.
I think that is going to the be the most popular choice. Money is a handsome devil.
It is. And it makes you look better than you normally do.
True, the “by association” affect.
Indeed. Quite so.
We need to find some money we can start hanging out with!
Don’t you know an Emperor or something? I bet he’s got lots of money…
He doesn’t consort with us lowly troopers.
Rude… You know a good employer gets to know everyone who works for them…
Key word being “good.”
True. But, I’ve heard you guys get cookies at least…
That’s the rumor. Still have yet to confirm it.
What? They don’t pass them out at your regular briefings?
No, we don’t even get caf.
Um…. I feel like you are being taken advantage of. Have you looked at other employment opportunities?
No. The best part of this job is that the citizens fear us. It’s fun to mess with them.
Hmm, I can see how that would be a pretty good job perk.
Yes. Power!
I’ve heard it’s like a drug… sadly, as a jester I’ve never known that kind of power…
Maybe the Queen would share just a little?
I could ask… but, you know how Queen’s are fond of saying “Off with their head…”
Yes, I’ve heard that myself, actually.
Eek! Not something that’s ever good to hear in person…
i like the take the cash and invite friends over to hang option too.
Haha, um… that wasn’t an option… 😛
I love it. I hereby dub this, “The Birth of a Banker.”
Hahahaha! Well, how about that…
I definitely would have grabbed the cash and wait a weekend to invite all your friends over anyway.
I think you all lived in very different houses than I did… how often did you get to invite all your friends over?
It is summer….weekend……why can’t your friends come over to hang out? 🙂
Sure, in small numbers… one or two at a time, but never in large groups at the same time. I’ve been having this same discussion with the queen – apparently she doesn’t understand either, as she was always with large groups of friends every weekend at one house or the other. That’s not the way it worked at my house though.
I would have taken the cash. Especially since I didn’t have a pool so a pool party would have been a little lame at my house 😉
OoO, imaginary pool party! That sounds awesome.
I would have taken the money, honey, and passed the pool party baton to someone else.
So far, a million people have said money, and no one has said pool party… I think I send a trend…
I’d have picked the money, without much hand-wringing. Of course, I had no friends, so a party wouldn’t have cost my parents much anyway ….
And the money could have bought you friends?! I guess not at the age we are talking about, but, maybe…
No, I wouldn’t have bought friends … I’m too selfish … I’d have just spent it on books 🙂
If most of it hadn’t gone into savings I probably would have spent it on books too.
Cash is king.
It’s true.
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This is certainly something which was a huge deliberation for you back in the day, love how you’ve captured your approach-approach conflict here. I have a feeling your parents were extremely pleased with your decision… Hope you saved up for something very cool.
Saved up for a mountain bike… and the it was stolen out of my garage… saved up for a second mountain bike, and it was stolen again… Grr.. I think I bought a playstation after that. 😛
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