Max’s Paper Route
Linda and I agreed that we would try
to teach our sons to have a good work ethic.
So when we thought they were old enough we insisted that they start
their work life by getting a paper route.
Max was our first to enter that start of becoming a man. He wasn’t nearly as interested in that as we
were but he was basically a good boy who would do what we asked him to do so he
applied for a job delivering papers and got it.
Although getting up at four-thirty
in the morning was not one of Max’s favorite things to do, after a short time
he actually became used to it. He even got to the point that he bragged about
how he was the very best carrier the paper company had and he was certain that
he was loved by all of his customers. He
proudly told us that he had been delivering papers for a long time and had
never had a complaint.
Until that day.
I had just come home from work and
was ready for one of Linda’s fine meals when the phone rang. It was one of Max’s customers and he was livid. He went on and on to me about how he depended
on the morning paper to keep his business going. And he had not received one that
morning. He explained how he had
searched all over his yard and was certain that there was none there. I listened for some time until I finally got
to get a word in. I told him that I was
really sorry about the whole thing and that I would personally bring him a
paper. I assured him that Max would apologize
as well. At that time of day I recognized the fact that I had two
problems. Or maybe three or four. One was that one could not get a paper at
that time of day. Another was that Max
was at school for a sport event and was not here to take it to him. So I decided to get our copy, put it all back
together, wrap it in a plastic container, and take it myself. I did that but it
didn’t go far in making my day.
When Max got home I at once
approached him with the big mistake he had made. But Max was not taking it well. He told me right away that the man was just
not very smart. He remembered that when
he threw the paper it had gone on top of his carport. He almost yelled, “All he
had to do was look up.”
That stopped me completely. Yes, that was all he had to do but of course
he would also have needed a ladder. I
wanted to fuss at him but I could not keep from laughing. And really that is all he would have to have
done. (Now a family joke) Think about it.
How could you forget a story like that? And to top it all off later in
life Max became a preacher. So still to this day he is telling everybody who
will listen that all they have to do is look up.
This is a good place to quit
writing, isn’t it? If you are missing
something in your life –Look up!
No comments:
Post a Comment