This blog post is taken from my book Golden Nuggets, and it’s a good reminder that our character is revealed by our actions.
I’ve been told that back in the days when things were less expensive… a 10-year-old boy entered a local diner and sat at a table.
The waitress put a glass of water in front of him, and he said to her…“How much is an ice cream sundae?”
The waitress replied, “Fifty cents.”
The little boy pulled out his coins, and he counted ’em and then, he asked… “Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?”
By now, more people had entered the diner, and the waitress was growing impatient. “Thirty-five cents,” she replied, rather abruptly.
The little boy counted his coins one more time, and then he said, “I’ll have the plain dish of ice cream.”
The waitress brought the ice cream, left the bill, and walked away.
The boy finished his ice cream – he paid the cashier – and he left.
When the waitress came back to clean the table, she began to cry…because, there, next to the empty dish, the little boy had left two nickels and five pennies.
The boy had been faced with a choice…he could either have the ice cream sundae, or he could have a bowl of ice cream and leave a tip.
