A Lesson Well Learned From My Father

1965 was a long time ago. Back then California was filled with fields and orange groves. I was eight years old and every Saturday afternoon I went to El Toro Military base with my father to go grocery shopping. Those Saturdays were my time with my father, those Saturdays were when I learned the most important lessons in life.

One Saturday as we were on the way home with the groceries we passed a watermelon field. My father asked me "Hey kid, have you ever stolen a watermelon?" I looked at him and told him that I had never stolen anything. He looked at me like I was crazy and said "Well, stealing a watermelon isn't anything. All kids need to steal a watermelon at least once" I couldn't believe what I was hearing, my father was telling me that it was okay to steal and that everyone did it. I asked him if he was sure that it was okay and he told me that it was. And then, he offered to stop so that I could steal my watermelon.

My father stopped on the side of the road and told me to get out and find the one I wanted. I got out of the car and for a few minutes wandered around the field looking for the biggest ,prettiest, watermelon I could find. All of a sudden I heard shouting and when I looked up there were mexican migrant workers coming from every direction. They had hoes and shovels and sticks and they were coming towards me. I was terrified and I started crying. I had a watermelon in my arms and it was heavy, and I needed to run away from these men that were after me. I dropped the watermelon and ran. It exploded into what seemed like a million pieces and I didn't care because I just wanted to get away.

The car and my father were only 10 or 20 yards away but it seemed like a mile. I cried and I ran and I jumped onto the car just ahead of the migrant workers that were chasing me.

My father looked at me and " Wow, it looks like you got caught. I'll get out and talk to them". My father got out of the car and went to the back to talk to them as I watched in the rearview mirror. I was upset but it seemed to me that my father was smiling and I KNEW that the farm workers were smiling and laughing. I didn't understand what was going on, and I kept watching. After a minute or two my father took out his wallet and handed some bills to the workers. With that, he got back into the car.

When he got back into the car, he wasn't smiling anymore. He said "Well, your stealing just cost me $20.00" I looked at him and wondered why he was yelling at me. He had told me that it was okay to steal watermelons and that every kid should do it at least once. I reminded him of that. He looked at me and asked me if I really thought stealing was okay. I said no, but that he told me to do it. He laughed and said "yeah, I guess I did, but you knew it was wrong and you did it anyway". He was right, I had, and I had been caught.

We drove for a few minutes in silence and he told me that when I got home I would have to clean up the backyard to pay for the watermelon that I had stolen. I didn't think it was fair and I argued with him about it. He didn't relent and I knew that I was going to spend days working in the yard to pay for a watermelon that I didn't even get.

When we got home I ran to my mother to protest and I expected her to defend me, but she didn't , she called me a thief. I looked at my father and I told him it was all his fault. He looked back and said "you knew it was wrong and you did it anyway. People in your life will ask you to do all sorts of things, but no matter what they say , remember what is right and what is wrong and do the right thing. Remember that it is you, not them, that will pay for what you do"

I didn't like my father very much that day or the days following when I was cleaning up the yard, but in my heart, I knew he was right. I knew that he had set me up to get caught and I had seen him laughing as he paid the farm workers.

I''ve never stolen anything again. I remember the migrant workers chasing me and I remember how hard it was to clean up the yard. Mostly, I remember my parents and I am grateful for the lessons that they taught me.