FATHERS DAY

The Moccasin Lesson

In the spring of my fifteenth year, I asked my dad for $3.00 to buy a pair of moccasins.

"Why?", he asked.

"Because everyone else has them.", I answered.

"Not a very good reason", he said.

He went to take his 20 minute nap in his lounge chair as he did after every noon meal. While he slept, I washed his car. When finished, I disappeared into the barn to tell the ponies about the conversation and how dad didn’t think I should do something just because someone else did.

Daddy found me.

"It would cost me $3.00 to have me washed at Torgerson's," he said as he handed me three one dollar bills.

"Thank you, Poke, you did a good job." he declared. He winked and went on to say I could spend it anyway I wanted.

That was fifty years ago, I have yet to own a pair of moccasins.

The lesson: Just because someone else is doing it doesn't mean you have to do it too.