Rule of Life #2 - "Never Steal Anything Small"

One night, when I about eight years old, I read a small, sad story on the bottom of the front page of the Philadelphia Daily Bulletin. It read something like, "Old man beaten to death and robbed of eight cents. A senseless murder."

I went and asked my father, "How much money would the robber have to get for the murder to make sense?"

My father sat me down and explained, "The amount of money is only a small part of the point - the fact is, that it was sad that the old man was murdered at all. The point where the money comes in is that the robber took a big risk to get a small prize."

NEVER STEAL ANYTHING SMALL.

"Never steal anything small?" I asked. "Nope," my father replied. I was as surprised as an eight year-old kid could be that my father was telling me that it was okay to steal, as long as it was something big.

"'Never Steal Anything Small' is the name of a movie with Jimmy Cagney made a few years ago," my father said. "I just like the sound of the name. No, you shouldn't go out and steal big things!"

"What I mean is, don't do what that robber did. Don't take big chances in order to get small prizes."

"If that robber gets caught, he will go to jail for a LONG time, and maybe even get the death penalty. Old people don't often carry a whole lot of money. I hope the eight cents was worth the trouble."

I finally understood what my father was saying.

"You can use this as you grow up, too," he said. "Don't go doing foolish, risky things because your friends dare you to. Always think, 'Is the chance I'm going to take worth the prize?' More than likely, the only prize will be that your 'friends' will have a good laugh at you."

"Never be afraid to take chances, though. Sometimes, the biggest chances we take in our lives involve believing in ourselves and what we can do. Try out for that team, go for that job, sell better than anybody, ask that pretty girl for a date..."

"Girls are yucky," I reminded him. I didn't even like my older sister all that much, because she always picked on me.

"Sorry, "my father said. "All I meant was that it is good to take a big chance if you are going after a big prize. And you should always go after big prizes. Believe in yourself and what you can do, and you can have any reward you are willing to work for. Just remember to always be nice to people along the way. And remember..."

"Never steal anything small!"