One night, a man came home from work late, tired and irritated only to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door. After a brief welcome, a short conversation came up...
SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
DAD: "sure, what is it?"
SON: "Daddy, how much, precisely do you make in an hour?"
DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?"
SON: "I just want to know.
Please daddy, just tell me, how much you make an hour?"
DAD: "If you must know, I make $100 an hour. Are you now okay?"
SON: "Oh! (With his head facing down). "Daddy, may I please borrow $50?"
The father was furious.
DAD: "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 into your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday and all you can come up with is this your stupid childish behavior of yours."
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door behind him. 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 thereabout, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $ 50 and he really doesn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy'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 earlier. It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $50 you asked for." The little boy sat straight up, smiling.
SON: "Oh, thank you daddy!" 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.
DAD: "Why do you want more money if you already have some?"
SON: "Because I didn't have enough, but now I do. "Daddy, I have $100 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.
MESSAGE OF THE STORY
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 $100 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 days. But the family and friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family.
