A Nonprofit Venture Sunny day. Light breeze. Afternoon walk. Residential neighborhood. A card table ahead, at the edge of a lawn. Two girls on alert, tending to business. Asian. Straight black hair. Both wearing glasses. The posterboard sign, taped to the table’s front, printed by felt-tip pen: ICECOLD LEMONAID 50 Cents 25 Cents COOKIES 25 Cents & 50 Cents I’m considering the two types of cookies. The older girl points them out in turn: “Ginger snaps. From a box. Twenty five cents. They’re small. Two would be fifty cents. The big ones are oatmeal raisin. We made them. They’re just fifty cents.” She entices me: “Those are my favorite.” I follow her recommendation, and find among my pocket change two quarters. She drops them in her open cash box. I may be the only patron at the moment, but a few dollar bills show that I haven’t been the only customer all day. The younger partner takes a small paper cup off of a stack and hands it to the co-owner, who raises a porcelain pitcher with both hands. “The lemons are organic. We grow them.” I nod, and she fills the cup. I sip with one hand, and search my change pocket again. “This isn’t ice cold lemonade,” I report. “This is warm lemonade.” “Yes,” says the older girl. “Technical difficulties.”
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