I picked my son up from school yesterday. As he was getting into the vehicle, he noticed I was finishing up a drink from McDonald's. As we were driving down the road, he asked if we could stop for him to get a drink at McDonald's. As we pulled into the McDonald's parking lot, I handed him my empty cup. I told him "Just change the lid and cover and you can save a dollar by refilling this cup." My son refused, saying "There's a sign there that says you can only refill your cup on the same visit. That would be like stealing." I told him "McDonald's makes a lot of money. They're not gonna miss one cup of soda. It's only a dollar." He said "Still stealing daddy, I'm not doing it. I'll spend my own money so I won't be a criminal." I told him "What about saving the environment, and being earth friendly?" He said "Maybe you can pay them a dollar and they'll let you reuse the cup. You'll still need to pay because that's the rules."
I told him that I was very proud of him because he refused to do something that he thought was dishonest despite my best efforts to convince him that it was OK. He then reminded me of a time where I made a comment about a nasty looking man who was refilling a cup he dug out of the trash outside of the restaurant. He remembered how I spoke with the man (who appeared to be homeless) and pointed out the sign to him, even offering to buy him a drink cup. The man refused, got belligerent and was booted from the restaurant by the manager.
Very proud of my 10 year old boy. He's quickly learning the difference between right and wrong. Sure hope he's able to resist peer pressure if ever faced with the choice of taking or not taking drugs & alcohol.
I told him that I was very proud of him because he refused to do something that he thought was dishonest despite my best efforts to convince him that it was OK. He then reminded me of a time where I made a comment about a nasty looking man who was refilling a cup he dug out of the trash outside of the restaurant. He remembered how I spoke with the man (who appeared to be homeless) and pointed out the sign to him, even offering to buy him a drink cup. The man refused, got belligerent and was booted from the restaurant by the manager.
Very proud of my 10 year old boy. He's quickly learning the difference between right and wrong. Sure hope he's able to resist peer pressure if ever faced with the choice of taking or not taking drugs & alcohol.
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