20 Dollars
A
man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his
5-year-old son waiting for him at the door.
"Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
"Yeah,
sure, what is it?" replied the man.
"Daddy,
how much money do you make an hour?”
"That's
none of your business! What makes you ask such a thing?" the man
said angrily.
"I
just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"
pleaded the little boy.
"If
you must know, I make $20.00 an hour."
"Oh,
" the little boy replied, head bowed.
Looking
up, he said, "Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?"
The
father was furious. "If the only reason you want to know how much
money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some
other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go
to bed. Think about why you're being so selfish. I work long, hard
hours everyday and don't have time for such childish games."
The
little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat
down and started to get even madder about the little boy's
questioning. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money.
After an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he
may have been a little hard on his son. May be there was something he
really needed to buy with that $10.00 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
daddy, 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 my aggravation out on you.
Here's that $10.00 you asked for."
The
little boy sat straight up, beaming. "Oh, thank you daddy!"
he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more
crumpled up bills. The man, seeing that the boy already had money,
started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his
money, then looked up at the man.
"Why
did you want more money if you already had some?" the father
grumbled.
"Because
I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.
"Daddy, I have $20.00 now... Can I buy an hour of your
time?"
Share
this story with someone you like ... but even better, share $20.00
worth of time with someone you love. Don't forget to have time for
those you love.
-Unknown Author (from e-mail)
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