Easy Money

Sam Johnson and his friend Butch want to join the boys who play street hockey in the park, but the required roller blades, sticks, and pads are expensive. Since neither boy’s father will simply hand over the money, they take a job cleaning the greasy floor of a service garage. After two tiring hours, each receives only six dollars. Sam accepts that earning the equipment will take time, but Butch walks away in disgust, certain there must be an easier way to make money.

Butch soon encounters Mac McCorby, an older acquaintance with a talent for fast talk and questionable deals. Mac deliberately loses a two-dollar basketball bet to show Butch how money can be made without work. He then encourages Butch to gamble on football games and gives him a card promising to get anything for anyone. Tempted by the prospect of quick riches, Butch begins placing bets through Mac.

Sam chooses steady work instead. With his parents’ permission, he accepts a regular job cleaning the garage early each morning. His father warns that the job must not hurt his grades or exhaust him. Sam agrees, believing that a few months of work will buy everything he needs. But getting up before dawn leaves him sleepy, and he envies Butch when his friend suddenly appears with top-quality hockey equipment.

Butch proudly admits that gambling paid for it. He claims he can quit as soon as he begins losing, yet he keeps betting even though he already has what he wanted. Sam says gambling is wrong, but Butch mocks the slow progress of honest work. Determined to catch up, Sam secretly accepts an extra hour of work each morning without asking his parents. He tells himself that earning money through labor makes his choice better than Butch’s.

The extra hours begin pushing everything else aside. Sam falls asleep over his algebra, in front of the television, and even in church. At a church carnival, he is too tired to prepare a proper booth and offers a nearly effortless game with used pencils for prizes. His father admires his willingness to work but questions whether hockey equipment is worth neglecting his health, schoolwork, worship, and other responsibilities.

Butch’s winning streak also collapses. After losing all his cash, he accepts Mac’s invitation to bet on an important game between Odyssey and Connellsville. The minimum wager is one hundred fifty dollars, so Butch sells the baseball-card collection he has owned since he was five. When that brings only one hundred dollars, Mac loans him the rest. Butch puts everything on Odyssey - and watches Connellsville win sixty-three to two.

Sam’s father discovers him leaving for work at 3:45 in the morning. Sam admits that he has been sneaking out early for a week because he knew permission might be refused. His father explains that wanting something and working for it are not wrong, but money has taken priority over more important parts of Sam’s life. Sam recognizes the truth and quits the garage job after finishing that morning’s work. He continues saving through ordinary chores, but at a healthier pace.

Butch loses even more than his baseball cards. When he cannot repay Mac’s fifty-dollar loan, Mac threatens to send a frightening associate after him and takes the new hockey equipment as payment. Sam watches silently as Butch’s easy money disappears as quickly as it came. Then, swallowing his pride, Butch asks whether Miss Daly has a large yard. He joins Sam on the way to work for the money honestly, warning him not to say a word about the lesson he has finally learned.