What A Steal! Kyle Bought His OWN Bike

Duane, Melanie and I were out for our Saturday morning walk. Just like every Saturday there are tons of garage sales. And nobody wants to go to, except for me. I just like to browse. I like to see what other people try to pawn off on their neighbors. Obviously if it was of any use at all they wouldn't be getting rid of it right? Sometimes that's the case, sometimes not. That's the best part about going garage sale shopping...You never know when you'll see that ONE THING. Today was that day. Duane & I spotted a boys 20in. bike for sale for $8.00. It was actually in pretty good condition. The seat looked like it was set on fire, every nik and crany was rusted, the tires were flat, & there were 5 inner tubes just dangling on the handle bars. The paint looked pretty good-silver, black, and red. All it needed was some TLC and a kid who REALLY wanted a bike. But hey, for 8 bucks that thing could be brand new! We walked home empty handed. When we arrived Kyle was watching TV. Looking bored as ever. We told him about the bike and he was gung hoe. "Hey I have 8 bucks!" We then proceeded to tell him all the TLC that bike was going to need. And that in the long run it would actually cost about $40.00 total (which would be Kyle's left over birthday $). He still wanted to check it out. One hour later Kyle & Duane came back with Wal-Mart bags full of stuff, and a rusty old bike. By the way, Kyle talked them down to $5.00! All three of us helped give that bike anew start in life. But, the best part is Kyle WANTED that bike, Kyle fronted the money and Kyle eagerly helped do the work. And when it was all done KYLE was PROUD! That made me feel very good and proud to be his Mom.
Now for all of you that don't know...On the second day of school Kyle had his bike stolen. He had a lock on it, but did NOT lock it up. He wasn't too distraught over it because he just assumed we (Duane) would buy him a new one. That bike was only 1 year old. And it wasn't cheap. And the attitude that Kyle had towards the bike was absolutely ridiculous! I was shocked. That was not the kind of kid I was trying to raise. Anyway, we found the bike and the kid who stole it. He lives in the lower income apartments a few blocks from here. Just before we confronted the kid, I observed him riding the bike. He was trying to do "cool" tricks, riding around, laughing with a group of friends...enjoying "his new bike." Well, we confronted the kid, made sure it was Kyle's bike, and then just as we should have just taken the bike away I told the kid he could keep it. I tried my best to be motherly and give him and his friends a lesson in honesty (which I know something about). And I let him keep the bike. Kyle was upset, confused and Duane too. But, if you could have seen that kid's face riding that bike, how much fun he was having...I don't know. It just seemed like the right thing to do, and teach my kid a (2) valuable lessons. 1) Be thankful/appreciative
2) Lock up your bike
So we gave the kid the key so no one could steal it from him and off we went.
Since that time Duane and I have debated about whether we should get Kyle a new bike, either as a Christmas gift or whatever. Well, that garage sale answered our question. See, you never know when you're going to find that 1 thing. Enjoy the pictures. Kyle worked very hard. We're very proud of him, and we love him.
So, this is what he had to buy to fix up the bike. 1 tire, a seat, a new lock/key and a can of WD40