A man came
home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 7-year old son waiting
for him at the door.
SON: ‘FATHER, May I ask you a question?’
FATHER replied: 'Yeah sure, what it is?'
SON: ‘FATHER,
how much do you make an hour?'
FATHER angrily: 'That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?'
SON: 'I
just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?'
FATHER: 'If
you must know, I make $ 20 an hour.'
SON: 'Oh,'
the little boy replied, with his head down
.
SON: "FATHER, may I please borrow $ 5?"
The FATHER was furious, 'If the only reason you asked that is so
you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other , then you march
yourself straight to your room and go to bed’.
After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down,
and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with
that $ 5 and he really didn't ask for money very often.
The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.
'Are
you asleep, son?' He asked.
'No FATHER, I'm awake,' replied the boy.
'No FATHER, I'm awake,' replied the boy.
'I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on
you earlier' said the man. 'It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation
on you. Here's the $5 you asked for.'
The
little boy sat straight up, smiling. 'Oh, thank you FATHER! ‘He yelled. Then, reaching under his
pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already
had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his
money, and then looked up at his FATHER.
'Why
do you want more money if you already have some?' the
FATHER grumbled.
'Because I didn't have enough, but now I do,' the little boy replied.
‘FATHER, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour
of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with
you.'
The FATHER was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his
forgiveness.
It's just a short reminder to all of you
working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers
without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close
to our hearts. Do remember to share that $ 20 worth of your time with someone
you love.