Chicken Soup for the Soul

Tommy's Bumper Sticker 
A little kid down at our church in Huntington Beach came up to me 
after he heard me talk about the Children's Bank. He shook my hand 
and said, "My name is Tommy Tighe, I'm six years old and I want to 
borrow money from your Children's Bank." 
I said, "Tommy, that's one of my goals, to loan money to kids. And so 
far all the kids have paid it back. What do you want to do?" 
He said, "Ever since I was four I had a vision that I could cause peace in 
the world. I want to make a bumper sticker that says, 'PEACE, 
PLEASE! DO IT FOR US KIDS,' signed 'Tommy'." 
"I can get behind that," I said. He needed $454 to produce 1,000 bumper 
stickers. The Mark Victor Hansen Children's Free Enterprise Fund 
wrote a check to the printer who was printing the bumper stickers. 
Tommy's dad whispered in my ear, "If he doesn't pay the loan back, are 
you going to foreclose on his bicycle?" 
I said, "No, knock on wood, every kid is born with honesty, morality 
and ethics. They have to be taught something else. I believe he'll pay us 
back." If you have a child who is over nine, let them w-o-r-k for m-o-n-
e-y for someone honest, moral and ethical so they learn the principle 
early. 
We gave Tommy a copy of all of my tapes and he listened to them 21 
times each and took ownership of the material. It says, "Always start 
selling at the top." Tommy convinced his dad to drive him up to Ronald 
Reagan's home. Tommy rang the bell and the gatekeeper came out. 
Tommy gave a two-minute, irresistible sales presentation on his bumper 
sticker. The gatekeeper reached in his pocket, gave Tommy $1.50 and 
said, "Here, I want one of those. Hold on and I'll get the former 
President." 
I asked, "Why did you ask him to buy?" He said, "You said in the tapes 
to ask everyone to buy." I said, "I did. I did. I'm guilty." 
He sent a bumper sticker to Mikhail Gorbachev with a bill for $1.50 in 
U.S. funds. Gorbachev sent him back $1.50 and a picture that said, "Go 
for peace, Tommy," and signed it, "Mikhail Gorbachev, President." 
Since I collect autographs, I told Tommy, "I'll give you $500.00 for 
Gorbachev's autograph." 
He said, "No thanks, Mark." 

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I said, "Tommy, I own several companies. When you get older, I'd like 
to hire you." 
"Are you kidding?" he answered. "When I get older, I'm going to hire 
you." 
The Sunday edition of the Orange County Register did a feature section 
on Tommy's story, the Children's Free Enterprise Bank and me. Marty 
Shaw, the journalist, interviewed Tommy for six hours and wrote a 
phenomenal interview. Marty asked Tommy what he thought his impact 
would be on world peace. Tommy said, "I don't think I am old enough 
yet; I think you have to be eight or nine to stop all the wars in the 
world." 
Marty asked, "Who are your heroes?" 
He said, "My dad, George Burns, Wally Joiner and Mark Victor 
Hansen." Tommy has good taste in role models. 
Three days later, I got a call from the Hallmark Greeting Card 
Company. A Hallmark franchisee had faxed a copy of the Register 
article. They were having a convention in San Francisco and wanted 
Tommy to speak. After all, they saw that Tommy had nine goals for 
himself: 
1. Call about cost (baseball card collateral). 
2. Have bumper sticker printed. 
3. Make a plan for a loan. 
4. Find out how to tell people. 
5. Get address of leaders. 
6. Write a letter to all of the presidents and leaders of other countries 
and send them all a free bumper sticker. 
7. Talk to everyone about peace. 
8. Call the newspaper stand and talk about my business. 
9. Have a talk with school. 
Hallmark wanted my company, Look Who's Talking, to book Tommy 
to speak. While the talk did not happen because the two-week lead time 
was too short, the negotiation between Hallmark, myself and Tommy 
was fun, uplifting and powerful. 
Joan Rivers called Tommy Tighe to be on her syndicated television 
show. Someone had also faxed her a copy of the Register interview on 
Tommy. 
"Tommy," Joan said, "this is Joan Rivers and I want you on my TV 
show which is viewed by millions." 
"Great!" said Tommy. He didn't know her from a bottle of Vicks. 

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"I'll pay you $300," said Joan. 
"Great!" said Tommy. Having listened repeatedly to and mastered my 
Sell Yourself Rich tapes, Tommy continued selling Joan by saying: "I 
am only eight years old, so I can't come alone. You can afford to pay for 
my mom, too, can't you, Joan?" 
"Yes!" Joan replied. 
"By the way, I just watched a Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous show 
and it said to stay at the Trump Plaza when you're in New York. You 
can make that happen, can't you, Joan?" 
"Yes," she answered. 
"The show also said when in New York, you ought to visit the Empire 
State Building and the Statue of Liberty. You can get us tickets, can't 
you?" 
"Yes ..." 
"Great. Did I tell you my mom doesn't drive? So we can use your limo, 
can't we?" 
"Sure," said Joan. 
Tommy went on The Joan Rivers Show and wowed Joan, the camera 
crew, the live and television audiences. He was so handsome, 
interesting, authentic and such a great self-starter. He told such 
captivating and persuasive stories that the audience was found pulling 
money out of their wallets to buy a bumper sticker on the spot. 
At the end of the show, Joan leaned in and asked, "Tommy, do you 
really think your bumper sticker will cause peace in the world?" 
Tommy, enthusiastically and with a radiant smile, said, "So far I've had 
it out two years and got the Berlin Wall down. I'm doing pretty good, 
don't you think?" 
Mark V. Hansen 
*To date Tommy has sold over 2,500 of his bumper stickers and has 
repaid his $454 loan to Mark Victor Hansen's Children's Free Enterprise 
Bank. If you'd like to order one of Tommy's bumper stickers, send $3.00 
to Tommy Tighe, 17283 Ward Street, Fountain Valley, CA 92708. 

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