The boy's head WILL explode

The explosion will occur before Thursday evening.  He definitely won't make it. . .

Popcorn sales haven't been great for this boy scout family.  Weekends available to canvass the neighborhood had other things planned, and many family members have scouts of their own.  It's life in the big city.  To try to up his personal sales, Cubby has been doing "show and sells" where scouts stand outside store entrances and annoy, uh, I mean ENCOURAGE people to buy popcorn.  It's been ok, but he's not the salesman he used to be, tiring and boring easily.  His sister has helped to the point of almost doing more than he does.

Apparently, things are tough all over.  Council has seen sales dip, and has extended the dates for selling, including some extra show and sell times.  I encouraged him to do this, at my own peril, might I add, because a parent has to go along and keep the whining to a minimum.  Even though I wanted him to sell, because it meant more money for his scout account, which we can tap to pay for activities--something we need right now--there was also an additional incentive of an IPad being offered to those who sold at least $100.  I didn't know if that counted only for orders taken or show and sells too, so I kept my mouth shut about that little prize.

Come to find out, after the last show and sell date, Cubby and the Hubster dropped money and extra stock off only to find only ONE other scout had sold at least $100, and show and sell items DID count.  Cubby sold $115 of popcorn.  That means he has a 50/50 chance of winning this Ipad.  The name has already been chosen, and I don't know who it is.  The name will be announced at the Thursday meeting.  Hence, the danger of head explosion.  The good news is, this has led to some important life lessons:

1. Be a good WINNER!  Hey, you win and you'll be thrilled, but someone will be the loser, and nothing is worse than a bad winner.  I know, the Hubster is a trash talking, in your face loser.  It annoys me.
2. Be a good LOSER!  I had to remind Cubby that as excited as he is, the other kid is just as excited to win.  He did an awesome job too, and it's simply luck of the draw, so it's important to go up and offer congratulations.  Sobbing can be done in your own room at home.
3. Putting extra efforts into things pays off!  It won't always be an Ipad, but generally, extra efforts yield good things, be it an extra point or two of credit, a nod of thanks from someone, or just the satisfaction of a job well done.

I'm not sure if I want him to win or lose, quite honestly, but win or lose, it'll all be over but the cryin' as a colleague says by Thursday!