Buying TIme

The woman came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find her 5-year-old son waiting for her at the door.

"Mommy, may I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure, what is it?" replied the woman.

"Mommy, how much money do you make an hour?"

"That's none of your business! What makes you ask such a thing?" the woman said angrily.

"I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?" pleaded the little boy.

"If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour."

"Oh," the little boy sighed, head bowed. Looking up, he asked, "Mommy, may I borrow $10.00 please?"

The mother was furious. "If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is just so you can borrow some 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're being so selfish. I work long, hard hours everyday and don't have time for such childish games."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The woman sat down and started to get even madder about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money.

After an hour or so, the woman had calmed down, and started to think she may have been a little hard on her son. Perhaps there was something her son really needed to buy with that $10.00 -- and he really didn't ask for money very often. The woman went to the door of the little boy's room and opened it. "Are you asleep, son?" she asked.

"No, Mommy. I'm awake," replied the boy.

"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier," said the woman. "It's been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here's that $10.00 you asked for."

The little boy sat straight up, beaming. "Oh, thank you, Mommy!" he exclaimed. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills.

The woman, seeing the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at his Mom.

"Why did you want more money if you already had some?" the mother demanded.

"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.

"Mommy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?"

Buying Time