The Best Thing in Life is Free

I like free things. One might say I’m the Queen of free.

Are you giving away those t-shirts? Are these brownies complimentary? Does that sticker have my name on it?

If the lady behind the table answers yes to any of the above questions, then you’re in. You’ll walk away with an addition to your wardrobe, some happy taste buds, and a new chotski that will (probably) get left in the side door of your mother’s mini van.

My room is filled to the brim with buttons, flyers, and other dinky souvenirs that all point to one word… clutter. Why do I insist on taking these various items from the nice, cheery people that consistently hand them out? Because they are free.

I tell myself that because they are free they must be awesome. That being said, when the lady behind the table tells me that the t-shirts are fifteen dollars, the brownies are one dollar, and the stickers are fifty cents, I smile and walk away.

When I was in Seattle, my friends and I walked down to the wharf and had dinner at Ivars, a Seattle famous seafood restaurant. We all ordered the cheapest thing on the menu, Fish and Chips, didn’t have anything other than water to drink, and asked each other whether or not the bread was free.

We don’t have jobs and money is hard to come by unless a neighbor or family friend calls us up for babysitting, but that is hard to rely on. We develop a constant debate with our inner selves about what is worth our money and what is not, whether we will spend our precious money on the overpriced jeans, the in style shoes, or the luscious candy bar. 

I expect the same is somewhat true for adults. You have your budget, and you try to stick to it. Despite your income, there are certain things that become essential to buy, and then there are others that are luxuries that aren’t considered necessary.

I have worked various fundraisers that benefit education and Sequoia. There is always someone up front talking to the adults, thanking them for coming, and then, asking them to donate.

If it were me I would hate for people to repeatedly ask me for money. But I realize that attendees come to these events expecting this to happen. If they didn’t care about the cause they wouldn’t take time to pick out an outfit, wear uncomfortable shoes, stand for a couple hours and mingle with people that they vaguely know. They listen to speakers talk about budgets, and money, and… budgets. They sip their glass of wine and smile across the table.

If they’re lucky, they get a free button.

So adults sit through all of these events to give to us?

 Huh.

So they don’t get free stuff, they spend money, and then spend more money?

I don’t see the appeal.

See kids, we’re the appeal. Yeah, so go ahead, yell at your parents for not letting you stay out late. Yell at them for not understanding. Scream your head off, and while you’re at it, slam your door.

They endure it all. They have given us more than we’ll ever know, and in 20 years it will be our turn. Parents give us time, money, love, joy, discipline, patience, compassion, and so much more… no matter how much we kick and scream.

Think about it. They sacrifice what they want, for what we want. It's more than just buying your favorite ice cream over theirs, its about what they sit through and what they stand to give us the best future possible. 

This might seem like a wacky combination of ideas… how do free shirts relate to parent appreciation? They don’t really. It’s more like how the things in our lives all become intertwined into this whole big whirlwind. But as I sat at that Redwood City Education Foundation benefit on Friday night in my new blue t-shirt adorned with my free pin, I looked out at the crowd with sleepy eyes and saw my principal, parents, my friends' parents, and lots of other people that I didn’t know, giving up their night to support their kids.

I looked down at the free Wells Fargo key chain in my hands and then back up to the speaker up front and smiled to myself. I realized that even though not everything in life is free, the best thing that you could ever ask for is. It’s love.

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