LESSON FROM THE UNPAID PIZZA

LESSON FROM THE UNPAID PIZZA

My son was fourteen years old. I would bring him to the mall where I bought groceries. I wanted to train him to be a smart shopper, know the essentials, keep a list, skip the luxuries, unless necessary, study the products, note the contents  compare the prices, read expiry dates, and keep a budget for the purchases. He loved doing this. I’m pretty sure  when he becomes an adult, he would, definitely take after me, follow my lead, and spare his wife the trouble of doing this errand.

One time after shopping we stopped at a popular Pizza Parlor, where we ordered a plate of family size pizza just for the two us. My son said no problem if we couldn’t eat them all, we could take out the leftovers for his sisters. I said that’s a good idea.

The young lady crew brought our food with the usual solicitous smile, and standard remark, “Enjoy your meal!”  We were so famished, that nothing was left but crumbs, on the plate. We stood up and left the mall, full.

When we reached home I mentioned to my son that something was not quite right. He asked me what’s wrong. It dawned on me that we forgot to pay our bill for the pizza.  

I asked him what would be the right thing to do. Without  wavering he said, “We need to straighten it out”. “Yes, we have to”, I said, “because while it was unintentional, it was wrong”.

He asked me how would I feel if we simply forget about it. I said I would  be losing some sleep. He would probably feel the same way, too, he said. I enlightened him, that ordering food and slipping out without paying, is a form of swindling, a crime. “Really?” he exclaimed. “Yes really, I should know because I’m a lawyer,” I said.

“Tomorrow, I after fetch you from school we would go back and pay our bill,” I said.  

And so we did. The lady crew was profuse in her gratitude, for the kindness she didn’t expect, telling us she was resigned to accept the deduction in her pay, hadn’t we returned to settle the charge. I said we were sorry to have caused her enough trouble.

After we left I asked my son how he felt.  He said, he felt great. He asked me how I felt. I said I felt lightness in my heart. Great, he said. And we gave each other  high fives. This boy is going to be just fine as long as the lesson stays with him.

Image by: moneyland.time.com