7

There are people who live on my street that I haven't spoken to in years. When I was about four, Mom and Dad had a cocktail party for some of the couples in the neighborhood, and I went downstairs during the party to use the bathroom. But I guess back then I didn't know you were supposed to keep the door locked, so Mr. Harkin walked right in on me. OOPS! SORRY 'BOUT THAT, BUDDY! When I was done I found Mom and told on Mr. Harkin, and I'm sure he felt like a jerk.

So I'm not about to knock on the door of some guy I ratted out when I was in preschool and ask him for money, either. Today I realized there's just too much history between me and the people in my neighborhood, so I decided to go one street over to Prentice Lane and start fresh. I walked up to the house on the corner and knocked on the door. But I recognized the lady who answered. She was Mrs. Melcher, one of Gramma's friends from Bingo. I told Mrs. Melcher I was trying to earn a little money shoveling people's driveways and that I'd be happy to do hers for five bucks.

But she told me she never gets visitors and invited me inside to chat. I didn't want to be rude, so the next thing I knew I was sitting in Mrs. Melcher 's living room surrounded by the lawn ornaments she took inside for the winter. I felt a little uncomfortable, but I figured if I was gonna ask someone for money the least I could do was try and be polite.

But all I could think about the whole time I sat there was how much money I could've been making if I'd just knocked on someone else's door instead. I must've been in there for an hour before I was finally able to steer the conversation back to the subject of me shoveling her driveway. But Mrs. Melcher said her son was coming by in his pickup truck any minute and he plows her driveway for free. So that's an hour of my life I'll never get back. I headed back out onto Prentice Lane and started knocking on doors. I guess most people were at work, so it took me a while to find someone who was actually home. I finally got lucky when a guy who looked like he just woke up came to the door. I told him I'd shovel his driveway for five bucks, and he said it was a deal.

I got to work and was making pretty good progress. But it started snowing again while I was shoveling. By the time I finished, it had snowed so much that you could barely tell I did any work. So I rang the doorbell and asked the guy if he wanted me to shovel his driveway again for another five bucks. But he wouldn't go for it.

And to make things worse, the guy said he wasn't gonna pay me the first five bucks until his driveway was clear like I promised. See, this is why it's a good idea to have a contract before you start working for someone. I got back out there and started shoveling, but so much snow was falling that I was getting nowhere. Then I had an idea. Gramma's house was only a few streets away, and I remembered that she keeps her lawn mower in the garage. So I walked over to her place and pushed the mower back to the driveway I was working on.