Guarantees

My son, lover of claw machines, has progressed to little figure mystery packs. For anywhere from three to five dollars, seemingly a bargain, you can acquire a small toy, often with moveable pieces and accessories. The catch--you don't know what the toy looks like until you've purchased and torn open the pack. You might become the proud owner of the cutest or most useful little thing. Or you might end up with something you never wanted or needed, and with three to five dollars less in your pocket. There's just no guarantee.
 
As I try to explain to him the risk of his endeavor, I realize that a great many of my endeavors are not that different. Sign an agreement for payment when a project succeeds? Sure. But what if it never succeeds, and the agreement is worth less than the subway fare you spent to go for the signing? Take a job that seems lasting? Seems like a good idea. But what is lasting these days, really? Make choices that allow you to spend time with your family? Excellent. But do you really spend that time, and at what cost to your career and bank account?
 
The truth is, there really are no guarantees, in mystery packs or in life. You can feel around, trying to make sure the parts that you want are there. You can do your "research." You can make sure you have the resources (three to five dollars or babysitting or means of transport). But when you tear open the package or the job or the piece of life, what you see isn't always what you expected. And often, it's not really what you wanted. Because there really are no guarantees.
 
So, I wonder, what do I tell my son? Do I keep letting him spend money to open the mystery packs--of figures and of life? And what do I tell myself? Do I simply accept the lack of guarantees, and keep opening my own "mystery packs," often at a cost well beyond three to five dollars?
 
I suppose that for both of us, there is a lesson for life--if you never try a "mystery pack," you'll never really know what you could have had. And if you try too many, you're liable to pay a high price and get a whole lot of what you don't want or need. There are no guarantees, but there's still research and adventure, and the value of trying. Which is, I guess, what I'll tell us both. So that we can keep unwrapping mysteries, without being too disappointed with the outcome.