THE LITTLE BOY WHO COULDN'T FAIL

By James Craig Green


There once was a boy whose parents loved him very much. Since his parents were raised with many difficulties and disappointments, they wanted him to have an easier life.

When the boy was 6, his mother found him eating a candy bar that he had stolen. She remembered being disciplined for stealing when she was a little girl - and never stole again. But, she didn’t have the heart to confront and embarrass her son.

When the boy was 12, the school principal called his father and said his son beat up another boy and took his lunch money. The father said it wouldn’t happen again, but did nothing. He remembered how embarrassing it was when his father made him go to another boy’s house to apologize for something similar. The boy’s father never fought again.

When the boy was 18, he was arrested for stealing wheels from a car. His parents went to the police station, paid a fine and took him home. The boy’s father remembered how his father made him get a job and work to pay back something he stole as a teenager. The father never stole anything again.

When the boy left home, his parents bought him a new car. When he wrecked it, they paid to have it fixed. When he wrecked it again, this time driving drunk, he hit and killed a little boy. He went to jail, but the jury felt sorry for him, so he was given probation and a $5000 fine. His father paid the fine.

When the young man, now 24, got into a fight at a bar and stabbed another man to death, he went to jail – but this time, he was charged with first degree murder, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

…all because his parents wanted to protect him from life's difficulties.



MORAL:

Character cannot be given, but must be earned.