The $20 Cup of Lemonade That Gave Me Hope

In a world where attention seekers and their brash behavior steal the headlines, there is a world of kind people still looking to do good.

Our family set up a Lemonade stand this weekend. Unfortunately, what was originally a stand set up in front of our home swiftly had to move locations after a large truck on its way to our neighbor’s garage sale parked directly in front of our setup.

Slightly annoyed, I saw my neighbor at the corner house getting into his car. “Hey, neighbor! My girls are setting up a lemonade stand today, and that truck just parked in front of us. Would you mind if we set up in front of your house for a few hours today?” Without hesitation, he said, “Absolutely! And I’d love to come by for a glass of lemonade.”

Phew! Crisis adverted.

After finishing our setup, another truck appeared. A loud, older truck that looked straight out of a 1960s Chevrolet advertisement. This one parked across the street, and a young man hopped out.

As he crossed the street, I thought, “Yay! Our first customer!” I think he saw my girls waving their signs like maniacs, so maybe he felt obligated to stop.

“I’ll take one cup of lemonade, please.”

“We’ve also got strawberry lemonade, iced tea, simple syrup, and sorbet. Do you want any of those?”

Rae is a salesperson and a professional upseller. The add-ons were all her idea.

“No, that’s okay. I’ll just take a cup of lemonade.”

Rae got the cup, and Sienna poured the lemonade. And as they carefully handed it to the young man, Rae said, “That’ll be $1.”

“Here you go. Thanks!”

As Rae hands me the money, I realize he gave her a $20 bill.

“Hey, let me get you some change,” I yelled as he crossed the street.

“No, that’s okay.”

I replied, “Well, can I give you some sorbet or at least another cup to go?”

“That’s alright. I’ve only got one cup holder. Have a great day!”

This young man hopped back into his truck and took off, waving goodbye as he held his $20 cup of lemonade. As he left, my wife and I looked at each other with a look of surprise, gladness, and bewilderment. “That was the nicest thing I’ve seen in a long time.”

Minutes earlier, I was annoyed as someone parked directly in front of our stand, leading us to move our operation. I’m an optimist by nature, but lately, cynicism has crept into my thinking a bit more than I’d like. “Of course, he parked right in front of us,” is what I thought of his perfectly legal yet slightly inconsiderate park job. It was almost comical.

That first truck confirmed my assumption that far too many are oblivious to the world around them. But a quiet young man, maybe twenty years old, reminded me that pure goodness is very much alive and well. It just doesn’t go around announcing itself in every room it enters.

There’s a trend of public displays of philanthropic endeavors that seem to appear in my feed weekly. People who give away tickets to football games while filming their unsuspecting recipients — content creators who give away loads of money to their followers.

I’m not an active TikTok user, so admittedly, I’ll see the most popular videos if they make their way to Twitter, but when I do see videos like this, I feel conflicted.

On the one hand, I love to see people doing kind things, but on the other hand, I can’t help but feel like this trend feels performative and self-serving, almost like the money offered up is a marketing write-off that leads to more influencer deals.

I want to accept every piece of generous content as pure, but it’s not, so when you see stories like A TikTok Creator Cried After Three Strangers Refused to Let Her Pay For Their Groceries, you can’t help but wonder if people are capable of doing kind things for others without notoriety.

If you’re asking yourself that same question, let me answer it for you; yes, people still do kind things without notoriety. An afternoon running a lemonade stand with my family showed me that.

For three hours, neighbors would stop by our corner to pick up a glass of lemonade, leaving generous tips along the way. Friends who saw my post on Instagram planned their afternoons around visiting our stand, stopping by for lemonade and a quick catch-up. Strangers would pass by and make a U-turn, likely remembering their entrepreneurial endeavors as a kid and how one new customer could make a child’s day. It was glorious.

Even the neighbor who let us borrow his corner? He went out of his way to tell us we could use his yard for whatever we needed. If you knew him, you’d know how big of a deal this was as he spends the majority of his time outside working in his yard.

Society tends to favor the loudest, boldest, and most “look at me” people on the planet. From the world of politics to the boardroom to some local churches and even activist circles, self-realized main characters monopolize the conversation regardless of how well-informed they are on the topic of the day.

This mindset dominates the way we live, even encouraging social media platforms to incentivize content that generates a strong reaction, be it positive or negative. The same goes for news organizations that push stories that keep our eyes glued to the tv. Saying, “Look at me!” generates engagement, and that currency keeps us relevant, ethics and honesty be damned.

But for every main character who sucks the life out of authenticity, there are countless others who are unassuming — keeping their heads down, just looking to do one or two nice things for people on a daily basis.

This might be the barber who gives discounted haircuts to kids who read books while they get their haircuts. This might be the mom who goes out of her way to make homemade dinners for new parents in her community.

Main Character Syndrome is draining, and unfortunately, that behavior is rewarded more times than not. In the midst of what feels like historical pessimism, our quiet heroes are rarely recognized outside of the final 30 seconds of the nightly news.

While advising parents who were concerned about how to talk with their children about tragedies, Mr. Rogers famously said,

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world.”

A sunny 80-degree afternoon with friends, neighbors, and strangers alike reminded me that, at our core, your average person simply wants to live well and help others.

No agendas. No preconceived notions. No cameras in the face to get that sweet, sweet content.

I’m talking about the kind of generosity that prompts a young man to drop $20 for a single cup of lemonade, not because of anything we did or could potentially do for him, but because, at his core, that’s the type of person he is.

That’s the type of person I want to celebrate because in a world that rewards the brash, highlighting the joy is much more refreshing.