A woman came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find her 5-year old son waiting for her at the door.
SON: 'Mummy, may I ask you a question?'
MUM: 'Yeah sure, what it is?' replied the woman.
SON: 'Mummy, how much do you make an hour?'
MUM: 'That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?' the woman said angrily.
SON: 'I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?'
MUM: 'If you must know, I make Rs. 50 an hour.'
SON: 'Oh,' the little boy replied, with his head down.
SON: 'Mummy, may I please borrow Rs.25?'
The mother 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 woman 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 woman had calmed down , and started to think:Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that Rs.25.00 and she really didn't ask for money very often.The woman went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door. 'Are you asleep, son?' She asked.
'No Mummy, I'm awake,' replied the boy.
'I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier' said the woman. 'It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the Rs.25 you asked for.
The little boy sat straight up, smiling. 'Oh, thank you Mummy!' he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The woman 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 mother. 'Why do you want more money if you already have some?' the mother grumbled. Because I didn't have enough, but now I do,' the little boy replied.
'Mummy, I have Rs.50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.'
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Well, I happened to get this in my mail one day...but I was really shaken. At the end of the day, I could see myself being asked the same question by my Daughter, who is 7 years old and I have been neglecting her like anything.
I would like all of you to sit back and think about it for a while.
Dipankar Sahu