The red boat

A man was asked once to paint a boat in red. The owner gave him the paint and the brushes, and the man spent 5 hours to paint the entire boat twice, giving it two good coatings. While he was painting he noticed there was a hole in the bottom, and he had the tools to fix it within 20 minutes. When finished, the owner gave him the money agreed and left very satisfied with the paint job. Next morning the owner of the red boat searched for the young painter and gave him a larger sum of what he had given him the day before. The painter told the owner that he had already paid him in full, but the man insisted and the painter left confused, but obviously happy with the extra cash he received. The owner told him before they parted: ‘This money is not for the paint job you did, but for the foresight you had to fix that hole.’ The painter was still confused as fixing the hole took only a few extra minutes of his time. The owner then had to explain the reason for the extra payment. ‘You see, when I asked you to paint my boat, I forgot to tell you to also fix that hole. After the boat had dried up, my children took the boat and went out fishing into the deep, on their own. They didn’t know about the hole and I didn’t know they would go out to fish on their own. When I realized that they were out there in the deep water, I went frantically calling them to come back quickly. So they slowly rowed the boat in, and when I checked it out, I saw to my exuberant delight that you had already fixed the hole. So you see, you saved the life of my 4 children, and I cannot thank you enough.’ Who knows how often in our lives how many little holes we fixed in our friends’ lives, without even knowing about them. With a tiny insignificant gesture, we can save so many lives from embarrassment, ridicule and outright shame. So, make a difference in someone’s life – keep an eye on their needs and shortcomings and help them whenever you can, without even letting them know.