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 is it?” 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 10 Dollars an hour.”
SON: “Oh,” the little boy replied, with his head down.
SON: “Daddy, may I please borrow 5 Dollars?”
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 go straight to your room. I can’t spend dollars for silly things.
After the man had calmed down, and started to think : Maybe he was harsh on the boy since he rarely asked for money. He went to little boy’s room and asked .” Are you asleep, son?” “No daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy. “I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier” said the man. Here’s the 5 Dollars you asked for.”
The little boy sat up, smiling. “Oh, thank you daddy!” He yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man realized 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?” thefather shouted .”Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied.
“Daddy, I have 10 Dollars 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.
A reminder to all of us working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some quality time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts……..