A wise old man retired and moved to a modest home that was near to a junior high school, seeking some peace and quiet in his older years.
He spent the first few weeks of his retirement in peace and contentment, then the new school year began.
The very next afternoon, three young boys, who were full of youthful, after school enthusiasm, came down his street, beating merrily on every trash can they encountered, making one heck of a drumming noise as they went.
This crashing percussion continued day after day and was driving the old man crazy as you might imagine.
Finally, the wise old man decided it was time to take some action and try to put an end to this annoying disturbance.
The next afternoon, he walked out to meet the young percussionists as they banged their way down the street.
He stopped them them and said, “You lads are a lot of fun. I like to see you express your enthusiasm for music like that. In fact, I used to do the same thing when I was your age. Will you do me a favor? I’ll give you each a dollar if you promise to come around every day and do your thing”.
Well, the boys were delighted at hearing this and continued to do a really good drumming job on the trash cans on their way home from school.
After a few days, the old man greeted the boys again, but this time he had a sad smile on his face.
“This recession is really putting a big dent in my income”, he told them. “From now on, I will only be able to pay you 50 cents to beat on the cans”.
The noisemakers were obviously displeased, but they did accept his offer and continued their afternoon drumming sessions.
A few days later, the wily old man approached them again as they drummed their way down the street.
“Look”, he said to them, “I haven’t received my Social Security check yet, so I’m not going to be able to give you more than 25 cents. Will that be okay?”
“A lousy quarter?” the drum leader exclaimed. “If you think we’re going to waste our time, beating these cans around for a quarter, you’re nuts! No way, mister. We quit!”
And from that time on, the old man enjoyed peace and quiet every afternoon.
Just shows it doesn’t pay to mess with tricky old people.
Image used under a Collective Commons License from https://pixabay.com/photos/adult-elderly-face-man-old-person-1852908/