A boy and his father set off to an amusement park for a day of fun between father and son. The son is fourteen years old, but has a small, petite body for someone his age.
The park has quite a number of rides and the boy is given some money to have a go on as many as he can. He is easily able to access many of them without so much as a snag and is having the time of his life. He gets to a ride that has an age requirement; such that anyone who is twelve years and below pays half the nominal fee. With money in hand, he heads of to the cashier with his three hundred shillings in hand (300/- being the nominal price). He hands over the money to the middle aged man at the counter, who then hands him back, half of the money. The boy, surprised, and a little confused, looks back at him and hands him back the money and says that he is fourteen years old and thus the adult rate applies to him.
Mike, the cashier, (from the name tag attached to the front of his mustard coloured tshirt), laughs out loud and says to the boy, ‘You look much younger than fourteen and could even pass for a ten year old. Take this money and have yourself an extra ride somewhere else….nobody will ever know.’
The boy takes the money hesitantly, and not feeling quite right about the entire affair, pockets it, but rushes back to his father. At this point, I know most of us would have jumped at the chance to have an extra ride, and would have jumped into the ride, without so much as a backward glance …Lol.
So he reaches his father and gives him the change and tells him what has just happened. The father, with a sliver of mixed anger and pride within his eyes says to his son, ‘ I am happy that you brought me back the money, because it means you know right from wrong. In life, it is tempting to do the wrong thing when it seems that we can get away with it. To take the easier route. But no good can ever come from doing the wrong and dishonest thing. So we will go back to the cashier together, and insist that he charge you the right fee.’
I’m guessing that in the father’s shoes, a good number of us would have probably pocketed the money, thanking the stars for our good luck; not really wanting to push so hard to do the right thing. But sometimes in life, it is important to push to do the right thing, even if it isn’t to our benefit; and not just settle with doing the bare minimum. To read more posts by Anne, click HERE
