A wise old gentleman retired and purchased a
modest home
near a junior high school. He spent the first few weeks
of his
retirement in peace and contentment. Then a new school year
began. The very
next afternoon three young boys, full of youthful,
after-school
enthusiasm, came down his street, beating merrily on
every trash can they
encountered. The crashing percussion continued
day after day, until finally
the wise old man decided it was time
to take some action.
The next afternoon, he walked out to meet
the young percussionists as
they banged their way down the street.
Stopping them, he said, ''You
kids are a lot of fun. I like to see you
express your exuberance like
that. In fact, I used to do the same
thing when I was your age. Will you do
me a favor? I'll give you
each a dollar if you'll promise to come
around every day and do your
thing.'' The kids were elated and continued
to do a bang-up jo
b on the trash cans.
After a few days, the old-timer greeted
the kids again, but this time
he had a sad smile on his face.
''This recession's really putting a big dent in my income,'' he told
them. ''From now on, I'll only be able to pay you 50 cents to beat on
the cans.''
The noisemakers were obviously displeased, but
they did accept his
offer and continued their afternoon ruckus. A few
days later, the wily
retiree approached them again as they drummed
their way down the street.
''Look,'' he said, ''I haven't received
my Social Security check yet,
so I'm not going to be able to give
you more than 25 cents. Will that
be okay?''
''A lousy
quarter?'' the drum leader exclaimed. ''If you think we're
going to waste
our time, beating these cans around for a quarter,
you're nuts! No
way, mister. We quit!''
And the old man enjoyed peace.
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