MESA, AZ—What began as something that Barbara and David
Billings thought would be a great idea to encourage their son Corey to avoid
physical intimacy during adolescence has become quite a conflict for the LDS
couple. “When I saw the article in the Deseret News about the Mormon woman who paid her son $10,000 to save his first kiss until he was 18,” said Barbara, “I
thought that this would work great with Corey.” David Billings agreed with his
wife, but since Brother Billings works for the Church Education System, both
agreed that they could not afford the $10,000 incentive. “After thinking and
praying about it, we felt that $28.50 was really a much more reasonable reward
and prize.” Little did the Billings know
that their incentive would lead to a bidding war with Corey’s girlfriend Lindsey
Stallings.
“When I heard that Corey’s parents were going to pay him to
not kiss me, I thought, ‘well, two can play at this game!’” responded Stallings.
Stallings immediately countered with an offer of $35.00 for the soon-to-be 17
year-olds to kiss. Explained Corey Billings, “Lindsey had this really cute,
sort of sly smile when she told me she’d pay me more than my parents offered.”
Corey went on to say, “she even said she’d throw in something she called a ’10 dollar
tongue bonus.’ I still get a little short of breath when I think of it” said
Billings.
As the bidding war has escalated, the Billings have been
forced to offer more and more money, with Stallings eventually pushing them to
$116.75 and a 50% reduction of Corey’s chores. It is at this point that the
bidding war has taken a new turn, as the Billings have made it clear that this
is their last offer. “I told Lindsey what they said,” reported Corey, “and she
said that maybe I should just take them up on it.” Corey reported his disappointment with Lindsey’s
sudden concession, that is until, according to Corey, “she got that sly smile
again and said, ‘take the money and we won’t kiss; maybe we’ll just get naked
and see what happens instead.’” Corey
has not yet relayed Lindsey’s “counter-offer” to his parents.
Corey’s sister Kaitlyn has also been given the same
incentive as her brother. For her part,
Kaitlyn Billings, who is both very bright and quite sarcastic, responded to her
parents: “gee Mom and Dad, let’s monetize my sexuality—how could that go wrong!?”
Spectacular news article - gave me a good laugh. Although I'm a bit surprised that the bidding didn't get any higher considering the efforts of parents to get their RM's a first date in my area. I'm guessing Corey must be a "sweet spirit".
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