This winter, my wealthy neighbour Mr. Dickinson hired my 12-year-old son Ben to shovel snow for him. Dickinson agreed to pay Ben $10 a day. But when it was time for Mr. Dickinson to get paid, he refused, saying it was a “lesson about contracts.” I was so angry that I chose to do something about it myself.
Ben had worked hard at his job, and his passion was contagious. Among other things, he had thought out how he would spend his money, which included getting our family gifts. But the fact that Mr. Dickinson wouldn’t pay him was a hard wake-up call.
I was set on giving Mr. Dickinson a lesson he would never forget. My family and I got together and came up with a plan. We would clear snow off of our driveway and path, but we wouldn’t stop there. We would also pile all of the snow on Mr Dickinson’s clean driveway.
After seeing the snow mountain, Mr. Dickinson had the most beautiful smile on his face. He was very angry, but I was cool and collected. I told him this was a lesson in justice and used the legal idea of quantum meruit to back it up. I told him that we had undone the job by piling snow on his driveway because he wouldn’t pay Ben for it.
Mr. Dickinson was shocked, but I could see that he was starting to understand. He knew Ben had tricked him, so he had to say sorry and pay him back the money he owed him.
I felt proud and happy as I watched Mr. Dickinson hand over the envelope with the money in it. I taught him a good lesson and proved to Ben that his hard work was worth getting in return.
The only prize I needed was Ben’s smile when he opened the envelope. He gave me a tight hug and said, “Thanks, Mom.” I stroked his hair and said in a low voice, “No, thank you for showing me what real determination looks like.”
