分享您的时间(Share Your Time)

shareyourtime

amancamehomefromworklate,tiredandirritated,tofindhis5-yearoldsonwaitingforhimatthedoor.

“daddy,mayiaskyouaquestion?”

“yeahsure,whatisit?”repliedtheman.

“daddy,howmuchdoyoumakeanhour?”

“that’snoneofyourbusiness.whydoyouasksuchathing?”

themansaidangrily.

“ijustwanttoknow.pleasetellme,howmuchdoyoumakeanhour?”pleadedthelittleboy.

“ifyoumustknow,imake$20anhour.”

“oh,”thelittleboyreplied,withhisheaddown.lookingup,hesaid,“daddy,mayipleaseborrow$10?”

thefatherwasfurious,“iftheonlyreasonyouaskedthatissoyoucanborrowsomemoneytobuyasillytoyorsomeothernonsense,thenyoumarchyourselfstraighttoyourroomandgotobed.thinkaboutwhyyouarebeingsoselfish.iworkhardeverydayforsuchchildishbehavior.”

thelittleboyquietlywenttohisroomandshutthedoor.themansatdownandstartedtogetevenangrieraboutthelittleboy’squestions.howdareheasksuchquestionsonlytogetsomemoney?afteraboutanhourorso,themanhadcalmeddown,andstartedtothink:maybetherewassomethinghereallyneededtobuywiththat$10andhereallydidn’taskformoneyveryoften.

themanwenttothedoorofthelittleboy’sroomandopenedthedoor.

“areyouasleep,son?”heasked.

“nodaddy,i’mawake,”repliedtheboy.

“i’vebeenthinking,maybeiwastoohardonyouearlier,”saidtheman,“it’sbeenalongdayanditookoutmyaggravationonyou.

here’sthe$10youaskedfor.”

thelittleboysatstraightup,smiling.“oh,thankyoudaddy!”heyelled.then,reachingunderhispillowhepulledoutsomecrumpledupbills.theman,seeingthattheboyalreadyhadmoney,startedtogetangryagain.thelittleboyslowlycountedouthismoney,

thenlookedupathisfather.

“whydoyouwantmoremoneyifyoualreadyhavesome?”the

fathergrumbled.

“becauseididn’thaveenough,butnowido,”thelittleboyreplied.“daddy,ihave$20now.canibuyanhourofyourtime?pleasecomehomeearlytomorrow.iwouldliketohavedinnerwithyou.”