One day, the father of a very wealthy family decided to teach his son a valuable lesson about life. His plan was to take his son on a weekend trip to visit an old friend who lived with his family out in the country. The father wanted his son to see firsthand how poor people actually live in America.
On their ride home on Sunday evening the father looked over at his son and asked, “Well son, how was the trip? Did you learn anything this weekend?”
“The trip was great Dad. I loved it and all the people we met were so nice,” replied the son.
“Well did you see how those people in the country live?” asked the father?
“Oh yes,” said the son.
“So tell me, what did you learn from the trip?” the father asked.
The son replied, “I saw that we have one dog and they have four. I saw that we have a swimming pool that reaches to the middle of our backyard and they have a creek that has no end. When we sit on our patio at night we look at the light flickering from those imported brass lanterns Mom bought, but when they sit on their porch at night they look up at the stars and study them.
We live on a small lot of land, but they have fields that go beyond sight. When we look out across our lawn we see green grass and other houses; when they look out their windows they can see the whole horizon. We have servants who serve us, but they enjoy serving each other. We buy our food at the grocery store, but they grow their own. You built a large metal fence around out property to protect us, but they have all kind of friends who protect them.”
The boy’s father was speechless.
Then adding insult to his father’s injury the son added, “Thanks Dad so much for showing me how poor we really are. I really learned a lot today."
