The "Buy Store"

Our search for a vehicle in South Africa has been quite intriguing for the boys.  Aden especially has enjoyed playing "Buy Store" with his cars.  He painstakingly lines them up, just as he sees them at the dealerships we've visited (which the boys call "buy stores;" a "dealer" to them is a car transporter).  Sometimes he even cuts out little pieces of paper and writes random numbers on them, posting them on the cars' windshields as the prices.  Once he has everything in place, he announces that the Buy Store is open for business, and anxiously awaits his customers, usually with personal invitations to Mommy and Daddy. 

Once the customer arrives, Aden takes great care in explaining all the details about any car that might be of interest.  He knows if it is a "7-seater" (which Daddy has often inquired about, as these are about the only vehicles here that would fit our family with 3 car seats/booster seats), or a 5-seater, or even a 10-seater.  He describes if it is automatic, or if it has any automatic features.  He repeats just about every phrase he has heard us use as we have searched for a vehicle. 

This morning Mommy was assigned a car that was hers to drive to the Buy Store so that she could look for a new car.  When she arrived at the Buy Store, Aden was ready.  He began showing her the four 7-seaters (and one 9-seater) he had available today, and Mommy listened as he described each one in detail.  One was older and had some rust problems; one had a steering wheel that was torn; one could double as a fire truck or police car; one did not shift easily and made wide turns.  Finally, she settled on the car that had rust, but it was the cheapest, costing only 3 dollars.  When the deal was made with a handshake, she was able to trade in the car she had driven to the Buy Store and left it there.

As she was leaving, Aden tried to make some more offers and sell her another car.  But she declined, "I don't need another one.  I already got this one.  I got a bargain."  Aden quickly corrected her, "That's not a Bargain.  It's a Land Rover . . . Well, that's what the Buy Store calls it . . . but you can call it whatever you want."