the economy of silly bands

Dave and I have been in Haiti for the last few days. We’re spending time with the Mangine family. They rescue and bring into their family Haitian kids, who would otherwise be sold into slavery or left on the street to fend for themselves. And they do more in their community than just parent lots of kids. You can follow their adventure here.

Our trip was sort of last minute, so when I was trying to think of a treat to bring the 10 kids, the first small, inexpensive, very American thing that came to mind was silly bands.

So yesterday Dave and I gave each kid 6 silly bands. I figured they would do as American kids do, trade them back and forth, negotiating for the more popular shapes. Instead, within an hour, a micro-economy had emerged in the Mangine home, and suddenly there were a couple of kids with arms full of silly bands, and the majority wearing one or none. I figured it was a short-lived treat.

But amazingly, the economy was still alive this morning. Commodities were still changing hands, much like a stock market. It was a game. They would toss one silly band onto the ground, and then take turns tossing their bands, trying to get closest to the first silly band thrown.

And much like the stock market , I would think I understood the game and who was on top.

And then the players would change

 and someone else was on top.

I wonder who will be on top tomorrow...