Entrepreneur or Con Artist?

It all started a few months ago when Carter and his buddy, Owen Counts (the non-Galbraith boy pictured below), unearthed a gold earring at the park. They were 100% certain that it was real (it was not!) and 100% certain they could sell it for millions (if only!). After a bit of a power struggle, it was decided that they would share custody of the earring until the perfect buyer stepped forward. This is how it all started...

Fast forward a few weeks...Carter's dreams of riches are growing more and more grandiose by the minute. He's going to buy a real Star Wars ship and light sabers for all his friends! Owen's fabulous mother, Lisa, indulges their fantasy even more by purchasing a bag of "jewels" at the local Dollar Store. Now, Carter has dreams of opening a "Lemonade and Jewels" stand this summer (he gets extra points for originality!). We'll be loading up the truck and moving to Beverly before you know it! Feel free to admire the jewels and place your bids on E-bay...

This is where I thought the story ended...at least until the grand opening of the stand in early summer. I would be wrong! Now, I must confess that Carter DID keep telling me he WAS selling his jewels for $1. However, I didn't catch the present tense. I thought we were still dreaming about our future sales and the concrete pond we were going to put out back. WRONG! I was cleaning out Carter's backpack filled with a myriad of end of the year junk, when I discovered the small, white jewel box nestled in the bottom. Imagine my shock (and horror!) when I opened it to find three remaining jewels and a wad of $1 bills. My little guy had been selling them at school. How he didn't get caught, I will never know! According to him, he took the jewels to school on Monday to let everyone appropriately salivate. He told them that they could own one of their very own for the bargain price of $1. On Tuesday they started flocking to him with their dollars in hand. He did let his good buddy Carl take one out on approval. Needless to say, he's a bit disgruntled that he hasn't received payment in full.

I don't know whether to be impressed with his entrepreneurial skills or horrified by the scam he's running. I mean, seriously, jewels? As for Owen, we'll be cutting him a check for his half in the very near future!