I no longer remember the challenge.
It was probably important
and I should investigate the recesses of my memory
to uncover what it was about
but my father paid me fifty dollars
back when fifty dollars was some amount of money
and I had to decide how to use the money.

I could have saved it,
but I was thirteen years old
and postponing gratification
was not a concept I understood.
If the cash was available,
it was there to be spent.

While in the competition for that money
(what was I doing for it?
Damnit, Dad, what did you make me do?),
I had seen a digital clock radio on display at Grand Central.
It had alarms and could play cassettes.
It was awesome!

Guess how much it cost.

That was the main contender.
There were a lot of comic books I could buy
for that kind of cash,
but the clock radio seemed to be a more mature purchase.
It could help me with school
and would last long after.

I finally decided on the radio
and brought the boxed product home.

It still plays cassettes today,
I think.
I haven’t tried in about twenty years.
It’s still bopping around the house somewhere.

I can’t get rid of it;
I put fifty bucks into that thing.