Sometimes The Kids Know Best

A man came home from his latest work trip late…....again. He was tired and irritable having endured the chaos and stress of airports either end of his flight and having had to share his personal space on the aircraft with a portly but depressing and boring co-traveller who was sweaty from time spent queuing with the throng of people in departure lounge.

He found his 5 year old son waiting up for him at the door and he was straining to keep awake so he could see his father.

“Daddy, can I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, sure son, what is it?” replied the man.

“Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?”

“That’s none of your business! What on earth makes you ask such a thing? I can’t believe you waited up just to ask me that.” the man said angrily.

“Please Daddy, please tell me, I need to how much you make an hour?” pleaded the little boy.

“If you must know, I make €200.00 an hour.” He responded

“Oh,” the little boy replied, now clearly thinking carefully about what to say next.

“And how much do you spend flying to your other office?” he enquired further.

His father was clearly getting more irritated “Why are you asking me these questions?”

Looking up, he pressed him for a response, “Daddy, please just help me out here. How much?”

“About €600 round trip.” He replied, evidently getting more and more annoyed.

“I know this may seem like a big ask but can I borrow €200?” the boy enquired.

The father was furious. “If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make and how I spend it on flights for work is just so you can borrow some of it from me to buy another silly toy or gadget, then you better march yourself straight to your room and go to bed.  Think about why you’re being so selfish. I work long, hard hours and endure the misery of large airports to make sure we can get by and I don’t have time for any of your childish games.”

The little boy was deflated and quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even more angered as he reflected on the little boy’s questioning. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money.

After an hour or so later, after a couple of gin and tonics, Dad finally calmed down and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son. May be there was something he really needed to do with that €200. He didn’t ask for money often and he had never asked for anything like that amount.

The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door. “Are you asleep son?” he asked.

“No Daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy.

“I’ve been thinking, maybe I was harsh on you earlier,” said the man. “Airline flying is a real pain and it’s been long day; I took out my frustration you. I’m sorry. I’ll give you the €200 you asked for.”

The little boy sat bolt upright, grinning from ear to ear.

“Oh, thank you daddy!” he yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out his laptop and a small bunch of notes and started tapping away on the keyboard. The man, seeing how his son had responded to his peace offering started to get angry again.

The little boy continued tapping away, then looked up at his father whose face now getting red with anger.

“I warned you that you shouldn’t be asking for money so you can waste it on frivolous gadgets and toys. Anyway, why do you want my money if you already had some?” the father grumbled.

“Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied.

“Daddy, I’ve been saving up for a few days and I've booked you a trial flight with Surf Air. As I see it you will save two hours on your regular journey, which you can then spend with me. And, because you won’t have to suffer the stress of flying commercial airlines we can spend some quality time together playing ball or doing something cool. What's more I don't think its going to cost you any more than flying the way you do now. ”

The father broke down in tears and hugged his son. “How stupid have I been son? All this time there was a smarter way to fly that would make life better for all of us and I didn’t realise it. Thank you son!”

Surf Air : Even a kid can see it makes sense! 

PS: The kid was even smarter than his Dad realised. His Dad is a top tier member of a number of airline frequent flyer programs so he qualified for a free trial flight with Surf Air because of their current promotion. The kid made €200 for two minutes work. Now, that is smart!