Kool-Aid for $1,000 A Glass For Cool-Aid

Tobin Northhrup, at his wit's end over medical bills and recovery from illness that has found him unable to work at Light Bistro, where he is a bartender, decided to do something about it and on this fine day set out a Cool Aid stand where he was selling cups of Kool-Aid for $1,000.00 a cup.

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I was driving down a sidestreet in Lakewood, Ohio this afternoon and as I looked to the right I saw a young man sitting at a card table selling "Cool-Aid." I smiled as I drove past, and then realized that it was not a child, but a young man, well, a man, and the sign read, "Cool-Aid, $1,000.00 a glass, second glass FREE!" Whaaaat? I had to stop and turn around. As I drove by a second time, I looked around. it was your typical nice Lakewood street, people out working in the yard, walking down the street, no gawkers or anything out of the ordinary, and the sign did read: "Cool-Aid, $1,000.00 a glass, second glass FREE!" So I pulled over and parked, and walked down a couple houses and up to the stand.

"I have to believe it is pretty damn good Cool-Aid sir," I said. The young man assured me that it was was damn tasty Cool-Aid. I said, "Is it really worth $1,000 a glass?" and he smiled and assured me it was not only worth the $1,000 a glass, but that he had to sell it for that price. When I asked why, he explained how he had gotten sick, and was unable to work and that his hospital bills were stacking up, and that he could no longer sit idly by without doing something. I asked him what he did for a living and he told me he was a bartender at Light Bistro, in Ohio City. Small world-- Light Bistro is a favorite of mine. He mentioned he had been unable to work because of illness and an emergency operation, and that he was not the kind of person to just walk away. So while his mother was gone, and his father slept, he got out the cardboard, the markers, the 4 cups of sugar and a pack of Kool-Aid and went into business.

I asked his name and he said Tobin Northrup. I asked what else he was doing and he said that he was Treasurer of the United States Bartenders' Association, Ohio Chapter, but that it doesn't really pay, and even that has been near impossible for him. At wit's end he went back to Business 101, the start for so many young entrepreneurs for decades, The Front Yard Kool-Aid stand. However for cuteness and marketing appeal, after all Tobin's dad Jack is a legend in the Cleveland marketing world, and to stay out of legal hassles with Kool Aid with a K, Tobin branded the stand and the project, "Cool-Aid." Because it's cool, and because it's aid, he said. I guess it's a different form of health care, not quite Obama Care.

I smiled, as it seemed he had all his bases covered, and was ready to do some business. I asked how many cups of "Cool-Aid" he had sold today, and he said he had been outside for a couple hours, and that my cup was the first cup he'd sold. I mentioned that I hadn't bought a cup yet, although he had poured me one as any good bartender would. He assured me that it was good--"Slammin' Strawberry-Kiwi!" I mentioned I could not pay $1,000.00 for a cup of Kool-Aid, or Cool-Aid no matter how good it was. It was certainly no 1989 La Mission Haut-Brion, which was 5 glasses of wine for $1,000.00. Besides, I never said I was buying a glass. With the sad look of a heartbroken young boy behind a card table Kool-Aid stand, he started to put it back into the jug then he said, "Well, you can have it anyway." So as I reached out and took him up on his offer of a FREE $1,000.00 glass of Cool-Aid, I was touched. As I brought the glass to my lips to taste the fine tokay, I really was touched with his generosity.

As the cooling Slammin Strawberry-Kiwi trickled down my throat on a warm spring afternoon, I could not help but think, I have got to do something to help this young man on his quest to pay his medical bills. So I emptied the glass, set it gently down on the flimsy card table, looked the young man in the eyes, and said, "Damn that was good Cool-Aid, good luck, talk to you later." I mean, you didn't expect me to pay the $1,000 did you, so encouragement was the next best thing.