The Scent of Money

Lever 2000 soap smells like money to me. And I'll tell you why...

When I was younger and living with my two older sisters and parents in the woods outside of town, neighbors with kids our age were hard to come by. Luckily, we had a family that lived about 2 miles away that had three daughters around our same ages. It was a comfortable bike ride away if you were committed to visiting. And I typically was because the middle daughter and I were good buddies who liked to clean and organize for fun, play office, and set up rigid schedules for our summer time enjoyment. Like the military for 12 year olds.

They would sometimes visit our home but not nearly as often as we would go to theirs. We lived up a dirt road that had 3 tough hills in it's mile long distance and we didn't have a 3 hole golf course, golf cart, in-ground swimming pool, or Coke on tap. That's right, you heard me with the Coke ON TAP. They also had a lynx-y/bob cat in a beautiful cage that ran along the side of the house that the girl' bedroom were on. I can still see it looking into their window at me from my sleeping bag on the floor. As a result, I can only clearly remember staying over two times in the entire 14 years of living near them... the second time I slept in the parents' room. But I digress.

Sometime in the 90's, Lever 2000 soap came out on the market. It was a brand new soap amidst so many tried and true and, frankly, tired soaps like Ivory, Irish Spring, and Tone. It had fresh and modern packaging and was more expensive than the other soaps. That is why we never had any at our home. Not to say that we couldn't afford it but that is wouldn't be the NEXT thing we'd buy. But, one day, while rinsing off in the outdoor bathroom after swimming in the neighbors pool, I got to try Lever 2000. It was a significant time in my life already, so I apologize if this seems a bit dramatic. It made an impression, is all. I was starting high school soon, I was going to be a cheerleader after having been relatively friendless through middle school, I was soon to be a child of divorce, and so and so on. I was noticing differences between my lifestyle and those of my peers for the first time. Some of those differences were materialistic. So there I was, having just spent the day drinking Coke from the tap like I was getting paid for it after cruising down to the country store in the golf cart to put candy on our parents' tabs before swimming in a pool that looked like it belonged in Miami and not Southern Oregon. Who was I? Where was I? And where do I fit in? And what is that amazingly luxurious sent? I decided that I wanted more of what the Lever 2000 lifestyle had to offer.

To this day, I use Lever 2000 soap in my home. I didn't know then what kind of money one had to have to live like our neighbors did but I liked thinking that I would know some day. This isn't to say that I've made it materially but when I do you had better believe I'll be having me some Slurpee on tap. And a mini-cow. And a butler. And a finger monkey.