Story 30. Collecting Things
Do you have a passion for finding and keeping certain things?
You do?
Don't worry.
It's very common for youngsters to collect things.
In fact, scientists have uncovered the bones of cave people from 10,000 years ago and found little boys with collections of shiny things buried beside them.
I guess the art of collecting goes back a long way.
When I was about ten years old, I collected comic books.
In fact, I was crazy about comics.
I used to buy them and trade them.
One time, I used my lunch money to buy comics.
I got in a lot of trouble for that.
My mother wouldn't let me play outside for a week because I had been so foolish.
At one time, I had more than 600 comic books.
I kept them in a place of honor on my shelf.
I would show them off to anyone who came to visit.
I was very proud of them.
Until one day, a friend came to my house with another friend of his.
I showed his friend my collection and he laughed, saying it was a childish thing to do.
I gave up comic books years ago, he said.
I was very embarrassed.
The next day, I put all my comics away and didn't look at them again for 15 years.
Years later, I heard that a person had just paid 500 dollars for a specific comic book.
I could not believe it.
I knew I had that comic book in my collection.
It turned out that I had many more comics that were worth a lot of money.
I sold them all and made thousands of dollars.
But I still kept my favorite ones.
They're very special to me.
I'll never sell them.
What did I learn from this childhood experience?
Don't ever let anyone tell you that what you do is foolish.
Remember, it's your life.
Who knows?
You may end up with a hobby that will pay off for you.
