It is, after all, the American way, isn't it? The guy who comes up hard and makes a life for himself and a living for his family is celebrated. The one who fails but redoubles the efforts to eventually succeed is the one we always imagine we could become. If we had to.

Thank God we never were tested that way.

I'm feeling somewhat philosophical after having read about a girl from DuBois, Pa., who invented something that nobody had ever thought needed to be invented: magnetic wallpaper for girls to decorate their school lockers.

Sarah Buckel's invention caught the attention of retail giants Target, Staples and Rite Aid, all of which have put in orders totaling $1 million worth of the colorful decorative paper that sticks to the metal school lockers without the use of sticky stuff.

After all, it was the back of peel-and-stick contact paper, or wallpaper paste, or tape (duct or otherwise) that set off the proverbial light bulb in the then-middle schooler's brain two years ago. That and watching her girlfriends struggle to undecorate the interiors of their lockers so they go home for summer vacation.

Yes, it helps that Sarah's dad runs a company that makes business-card magnets.

She told him her idea; he told company engineers what she wanted. They did it, and, well, Sarah Buckel is the genius kid we all want, especially when the only thing ours can make is cell phone calls.

Sarah's dad, Paul Buckle, was so impressed with the idea of magnetic wallpaper, and so sure that it would find buyers, he purchased the company, MagnaCard, and added it to the product line. (Look for it at those previously mentioned stores at $9.99 a roll in time for the fall school term.)

Don't you just wish your kid could come up with college tuition money while still in middle school? OK, how about lunch money? Would you settle for that?

Me? I tried to be an inventor, coming up with something that I thought was a good idea: contact lenses with horn rims for women without eyebrows.

That didn't go over. How about self-mixing margaritas? Blend the usual ingredients with a handful of Mexican jumping beans and, well, no, that didn't make it either. Too lumpy.

Here's a real-life example close to home of somebody who makes something out of nothing, provides a service to others and is rewarded (not well, though) for doing so.

That would be Bill Harrison - Washington's "Bill the Can Man" - who daily picks up discarded soft drink and beer cans and sells them for scrap. The few bucks he makes dragging his wagon down the sidewalks of Washington are to be applauded.

Contact Byron Smialek at bsmialek@observer-reporter.com.

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