SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
DAD: "Sure Son, what is it?"
SON: "How much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "Sure Son, what is it?"
SON: "How much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "Why are you asking such a question, Son?"
SON: "I just want to know. Please tell me Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "Well if you must know, I make $34 an hour."
SON: "Oh!" (The boy put his head down).
DAD: "Is there something wrong?"
SON: "No Daddy, I was just wondering, may I borrow $7?"
The father was furious.
DAD: "If the only reason you asked me how much money I made is so you could borrow $7.00 to buy some silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. I work very hard everyday for the money I earn and I don't appreciate your being so selfish."
The little boy quietly went to his room and the father sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's behavior. How dare he ask such a question only to get some money?
SON: "No Daddy, I was just wondering, may I borrow $7?"
The father was furious.
DAD: "If the only reason you asked me how much money I made is so you could borrow $7.00 to buy some silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. I work very hard everyday for the money I earn and I don't appreciate your being so selfish."
The little boy quietly went to his room and the father sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's behavior. How dare he ask such a question only to get some money?
After several minutes passed, the father calmed down and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that money as he really didn't ask for money very often. The father then went to his son's room and opened the door.
DAD: "Are you asleep, Son?"
SON: "No Daddy, I'm awake".
DAD: "I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you for asking your question. It was a long day and I took my frustrations out on you. Here's the $7 you asked for."
The little boy sat straight up, smiled wide and hugged his father.
SON: "Oh, thank you Daddy!" Then he reached under his pillow and pulled out some crumpled up bills he had saved up. The father, upon seeing how much money the boy already had, started to get angry all over again.
After the little boy slowly counted out his money to get the exact total, he looked up at his father and handed him the money. "Daddy, I have $37 now, can I please buy an hour of your time? I would love you to come home early tomorrow and have dinner with us for once."
Stunned, the father said nothing. He just put his arms around his son and asked for forgiveness. He said, "Keep your money, Son. I promise I will be home for dinner tomorrow."