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DIECAST Collectible
Model Cars And More
| Item# |
Description |
Stock
Status |
| 5316D |
Kinsmart - Chevy Corvette Hard Top (1957, 1:34 scale diecast model, Asstd.) 5316D |
New |
| 5317D |
Kinsmart - Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Hard Top (1:36 scale diecast model, Asstd.) 5317D |
New |
| 2101D |
Mail Truck (4.5") 2101D |
Restock |
| 2102MD |
Ice Cream Vending Truck (4.5", White) 2102MD |
Restock |
| 2105D |
Oil Tanker (5.5", Asstd.) 2105D |
Restock |
| 2106D |
Rollback Tow Truck (5.25", Asstd.) 2106D |
Restock |
| 6080D |
Vintage Aircraft (4.75", Asstd.) 6080D |
Restock |
| 9665D |
Farm Tractor (4.25", Asstd.) 9665D |
Restock |
| 9830D |
School Bus (Metro School Bus) 9830D |
Restock |
| 9921/4D |
Fire Engine (4.75", Asstd.) 9921/4D |
Restock |
| 9961/4D |
Power Construction Truck (5.25", Asstd.) 9961/4D |
Restock |
| 9985/4D |
Police Series (5", Asstd.) 9985/4D |
Restock |
| 9985BU |
Police Series (5", Blue) 9985BU |
Restock |
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Lu
Toy Wonders, Inc.
www.toywonders.com
201-229-1700
God and the Art of Toy and Diecast Marketing
Lemon Poppy
By Lu Su
Standing in front of me, crying, and tears streaming down his cheeks my four year old son Daniel is screaming "NOT fair! That's not fair! Dad is NOT fair!" Ever notice with little kids the greater their outrage, the greater their volume? And somehow this outrage emotion is connected to their legs, hence the jumping action. So my son is bawling, tears streaming down his face, angry, hurt, and in disbelief that the authority figure in his life could make such a bad call.. Let me explain what had happened.
I was sitting at the breakfast table. I was at peace and enjoying solitude, coffee and a newspaper. Then my youngest son woke up and found me. He being an active child has a very high metabolism; so when he wakes up, usually the first words out of his mouth is "I'm hungry!" The day before I had gone to the grocery store and bought a 4 pack of lemon poppy muffins. It was the store's last package of this flavor and my kids don't seem to like corn, bran, or banana nut. The store did have chocolate chip muffins, but my wife gets on my case about giving our kids essentially a chocolate bar for breakfast. So when I put the 4 pack of muffins into the shopping cart I said to my self that each of my kids could have one muffin tomorrow for breakfast. Unfortunately, my son Daniel more often than I like, will take a bite of something and suddenly decide that he doesn't like it. Then none of my other kids are willing to finish it because "Daniel touched it" (as if he has the plague or something). So me being a frugal guy I am (I guess some people would call it cheap), cut a muffin in half and I give him just half a muffin.
"Why did you just give me half a muffin?" inquires Daniel.
I replied, "Well if you finish it, you can have the other half.". This answer met with his satisfaction and there was peace at the Su table. Dad reading his paper and Daniel chomping on his muffin. In virtually no time, he finished his muffin and asked for the other half. So I got up, went to the kitchen counter, and got his other half. Now about the same time, my eldest boy walks into the kitchen.
"Oh, poppy muffins", he exclaims and helps himself to a one. Lemon poppy muffins and poppy bagels are my eldest son's favorites.
"Use a plate," I commanded. So there the three of us sat and that is when the Hallmark moment vaporized. This is where the outrage started.
"Why does Joshy get a full muffin and I only get half a muffin?", asks Daniel.
"You got a full muffin too." I replied, "You are eating the other half now".
"Noooooooooooo, you only gave me half a muffin and Joshy got a whole muffin. That’s not fair!" shouts Daniel.
"Oh oh", I said to myself realizing that he does not understand this simple math concept that two halves make a whole. I turned to Daniel and explained, "If I give you two half muffins and put them together, you have a whole muffin."
"Noooooooooooo," replies Daniel again and his bottom lip started to quiver.
I explained again, "Daniel, TWO halves and a whole…" .
"Noooooooooooo, you only gave me half a muffin", protests Daniel.
"Yeahhhhhh, I gave you half a muffin two times. So you got a full muffin too", I explained. Tears were starting to come down. By this time, I was now regretting that I had cut his muffin in half.
"Noooooooooooo, you only gave me only half!!" and tears now stream down his face. He gets out of his chair, jumps up and down, and starts screaming that I am not being fair. I thought to myself, how am I not being fair here? I wanted to say "Your older brother is more than twice your age and twice your weight. You should be happy that you got a full muffin," but kept it to myself.
Daniel felt inequity and injustice. He felt that the authority figure, who should administer justice fairly to all parties, was getting it flat out wrong here. Another way to say it is that Daniel thought I was being unrighteous. Terms like 'righteous' , 'unrighteous', 'better', 'right', and 'wrong' will come up whenever a moral judgment is being made. Now it is my belief that these concepts are vital in keeping us on course in both our physical and spiritual journeys. Perhaps an analogy is that that these words are compass settings, and true North is something called Truth.
Now if it is reasonable to assert that the gap in knowledge and understanding from a young child to a grown man, is less than the gap in knowledge and understanding from a grown man to an omniscient and all powerful God, then it is reasonable to conclude that we are going to get it wrong sometimes -just like my son Daniel. I see and hear this upon many occasions. As adults, I hear the same poppy muffin outrage statement, but with a slightly different flavor. The same moral outrage manifest itself in statements like, "There is too much evil in this world for there to be a God." Or, "An all powerful and all loving God would never permit ...........(fill in the blank)".
Questioning the righteousness of authority is nothing new. Several thousands of years ago, one of the patriarchs of Jews, Christians, and Muslims had this very same lemon poppy muffin issue with God. A very interesting conversation occurs in Genesis 18:22-33.
The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. Then Abraham approached God and said, "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."
Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?"
"If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it."
Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?"
He said, "For the sake of forty, I will not do it."
Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?"
He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."
Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?"
He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it."
Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?"
He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it."
When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
In this brief conversation, I have made these observations. Abraham was a very good bargainer (had he been around now, I would hire him as a buyer). Numbers and arithmetic still worked the same the way today as they did several thousands of years ago. So God is able to communicate with us through words and numbers (this directly refutes any argument that God is unknowable). God does not appear to be upset or angry when we attempt question/seek what is right. Note that King Xerxes, a powerful king during his time, had a law written where anyone who addressed King Xerxes without first being addressed by the king, was killed. Imagine how quiet it must have been where ever this King went. But fortunately, i do not sense any offense when God is questioned with respect. In other words, God does not appeared bothered by questions that you might have for him -like "Why do I only get half a muffin?". The key in understanding this highly debated concept of righteousness stems from this catch phrase uttered several thousand years ago, "Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?".
The King James reading of this phrase sticks better in my head, "Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right?" Please repeat that phrase a few times in now and a few times this week. It has profound ramifications on this concept of righteousness. If this concept is soemthing that helps steer us on our journey, it seems that it would be wise to get a better understanding of it. Hang with me as next week as I further explore this concept with two Italian truck drivers.
Ciao!
