The Dumbest boy in the World...

A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his Customer, "This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you."

The barber puts a quarter in one hand and nickels in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, "Which do you want, son?" The boy takes the two nickels and leaves. "What did I tell you?" said the barber. "That kid never learns!"

Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream store. "Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take two nickels instead of the quarter ?" The boy licked his cone and replied, because the day I take the quarter, the game is over. 

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When I read this little story, it brought to mind the times that we succumb to our short term needs and forsake the long-range plan. As we raise two small daughters, we have had the conversations about ‘needs and wants’ numerous times. We wrestle with keeping them grounded in a world where everyone wants to go for the quarter. The world around us seems to be driven by impatience, immediate gratification, getting “it all” now. In our attempts to create a different paradigm for our daughters, we struggle like anyone else. We’ve set clear academic goals and expectations for them. We’ve positioned sports and extracurricular activities as a test of character, not that which creates character- that is our responsibility. This story represents that approach towards deferred gratification, old world values- one might say. Slow and easy wins the race. You can add whichever metaphor of your choice- you get it.

Viewed differently, one might also view this story as one of self-interest. The boy realizes that the ongoing engagement of the barber, benefits him. He provides entertainment for the barber, yet his get is the two nickels- every time. The longer he can play that out, the longer he benefits. Wise? Perhaps. It’s akin to political circles where the saying- pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered comes to mine. You can take your two nickels ongoingly- or end the game and go for the quarter.

Either way, this is a great story to engage in a conversation with your children. I love using my travel time to /from events to have these types of conversations in the car- to pass along a little of what my grandparents showed me many years ago- ‘los dichos’ and ‘cuentos’ where how they taught us. That’ s how they passed their wisdom along to us.

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~Lou Sandoval is an entrepreneur whose successful career transcends over 17 years of Fortune 100 experience parlayed into business ownership. Lou believes in giving back to his community and has been involved in the Boy Scouts of America's leadership. He serves on a few non-profit and professional boards. Opinions expressed here are solely personal and not a representation of any of the organizations with which he may be affiliated.