Fireworks and A Hired Soldier

Originally Posted 7/4/07
Earlier this week, Brandon had promised to take all the kids to the fireworks store after they finished their chores.
As is usually the case when rooms have to be cleaned in a hurry, Hannah bribed Samuel to help her clean her room. The payment is usually something grand from Hannah's secret stash of candy, rights to future allowance earnings, or promises of game board playing.
Anyway, the room got cleaned, and they came out of Hannah's room. Hannah said, "Thank you so much, Samuel!" Samuel rolled over on her like a mafia informant. He walked past me in the hall and said, "She stuffed everything under the bed", and kept walking. Hannah was furious.
In Samuel's defense, he has to endure a lot helping Hannah. She can be a cruel taskmaster when she wants to be, earning her the title of "Drill Sargeant Daughter" around the house.
For some reason, this episode made me think of Desert Storm. When the American soldiers approached the Iraqis in battle, they would fall all over themselves to surrender. You just can't buy loyalty. It must be inspired.
Epilogue-everyone came back from the store with enough fireworks to start our own war. Moral of the story-never send a pyromaniac to the fireworks store unsupervised.