Can We Get a Cadillac?

​"Mom, can we get a Cadillac?" The question might have seemed entirely random except that I knew Trooper had been watching car emblems again, and had recently announced 'Cadillac!'
            I laughed. "No, we can't get a Cadillac. We don't have that kind of money, and even if we did, we'd do something else with it."
            "But I want a Cadillac," he said. For the previous week he'd been asking us to get a Nissan. This is why the six-year-old isn't in charge.
            "Trooper, we're not getting a Cadillac. When you grow up, if you get a good job and make lots of money, you can help poor people and get a Cadillac."
            He thought for a moment. "But poor people live two miles away! I can't walk that far. I have to get a Cadillac and then help poor people."
            I laughed at his logic, thinking how young we start grooming the facts to support our desires. "Well, yes," I agreed. "In our culture it is easier to help people if you have a car. But it doesn't have to be a Cadillac." But how often we adults are just as blatant as a kindergartener. The things people feel they must have before they can share with others are generally not necessary and often aren't even healthy… I honestly believe this is something we do better than average American, but I still see ways we could improve. And we will ;)