Prom Queen Crowns and Registers

With zero retail experience

Never having touched a cash register

They hired me.

.

-I take that back-

My earliest experience

Selling sea shells at the end of our driveway

In a neighborhood of retirees

5 minutes from the beach

My sisters and I would get a steady set of visitors

Folks usually walking dogs

Us reminding them of their kid’s kids

A metal box dug out from my dad’s workbench

Held our profit.

.

Moving to Indiana

Surrounded by cousins

We would try to sell lemonade and candy bars to our uncles

As they drove in from the fields

-Well-

Until grandma found out we were charging and put an end to that endeavor.

.

Obviously not about to quit

Deciding to step it up-

We teamed up-

Cousins and cousins

Made storefronts up and down the lane

Digging into our aunt’s closet,

We divided up the clothing and sold it to each other.

A bidding war-

For whom would sell

The prize of all prizes

The prom queen crown.

.

Exchanging buckeyes for currency

We sold her skirts and jeans

Cowboy hats and -the- crown

Tops and sashes

And everything in between.

We dressed up with our new finds

Riding bikes, climbing trees with mud up to our knees

.

-she came home-

.

And that was the end of our retail experience.

.

Maybe I should have put that on my resume.

Now I cash people out

With a real register-

With real product-

With real money-

My aunt comes into the store every once in a while.

.

Most purchased item:

Clothing

But obviously no prom queen crowns