A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his
5-year old son waiting for him at the door.
SON: 'Daddy, may I ask you a question?'
DAD: 'Yeah sure, what it is?' replied the man.
SON: 'Daddy, how much do you make an hour?'
DAD: 'That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?' the
Man said angrily.
SON: 'I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an
Hour?'
DAD: 'If you must know, I make $50 an hour.'
SON: 'Oh,' the little boy replied, with his head down.
SON: 'Daddy, may I please borrow $25?'
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 nonsense, then
you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about
why you are being so selfish.... I don't work hard everyday for such
childish frivolities.'
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat
down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's
questions.....How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?
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 $25.00 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 out my aggravation on you.
Here's the $25 you asked for.'
The little boy sat straight up, smiling. 'Oh, thank you daddy!'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. !
'Daddy, I have $50 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 $50 worth of
your time with someone you love. If we die tomorrow, the company that
we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours, but
the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest
of their lives.