I'm So Proud of This Guy!

This is Alejandro.  He is Deaf and turns 16 next Friday.  He has a job working with a plant propogator and landscaper.  He says he "Kiss-Fist" his work. ("Kiss-Fist" is an ASL sign made by closing the right hand into a fist and bringing it up to your mouth and kissing it.  It is the sign for really loving something).

Why is he giving the thumbs up sign?  I have been trying to help him and Edgar save their money.  When they get paid every Friday they give half to their mothers and then tend to blow the rest of the wad before the light of Saturday shines.  Alejandro wanted to buy a phone.  I offerred to be his bank. This gave him some accountability and also I am "open" Friday night after he gets his pay.  Using the bank is hard because by the time he gets home from work, they are closed.

Every week for 5 weeks he brought me $25 from his Friday pay. We put it in an envelope and stored it in my safe. In the meantime we went to look at phones.  They are so expensive here, especially if you want to have a QWERTY keyboard, which makes texting easier. When he had $125, we went to the Cellular Store and bought this phone. He is so proud that he bought it himself... the whole thing from his work money.  Now he KISS-FISTs his phone (smile),