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Can I Borrow $25?

January 15, 2009 by GreatDad Writers 6 Comments


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: ‘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 and 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.

This article was sent to GreatDad.com in an email without attribution. If this is your content, please let us know so we can post the source or remove it if necessary. Thanks. 

Filed Under: Kids

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tony says

    November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Very moving story. It’s so important to spend time with your children and family and to not just let life pass you by. You only get ONE shot at life…

    Log in to Reply
  2. Colin says

    November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    This dad is a dick. He needed to have a better relationship with his mother growing up.

    Log in to Reply
  3. Anonymous says

    November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Believe it or not, this touchin story originated on one of the most vile places on the internet: 4chan. It was written by anonymous, for anonymous. From time to time it appears in baww threads on /b/. I’ve rea i so many times i can tell this is not exactly the same, was probably edited a bit.

    Log in to Reply
  4. Krishna says

    November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    The story is very sensitive and charming. It moves everyone’s heart. I hope everyone would like it.
    There is something else I need to ask for favor. One of the writers in Nepal, copied the same idea and published the same story in his credit. There might be the chance that the same author might have sent this story. Therefore I request you not to remove this story from this site for some time.

    Log in to Reply
  5. Katsurunju says

    November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Wife sent this story second time, and second time I read it its slightly different, probably taken from other site. But here is the thing, father working hard to provide for the family, or the father has all time in the world to spend with his family and doesn’t bring enough money for family to survive. What’s better? You answer this question….

    Log in to Reply
  6. Philip says

    November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    I went thru something like that–very sad as a result I was never close to my Father

    Log in to Reply

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