Funny story: Why it is important that you can think with your head

Once there was a boy named Ben who lived at home with his mother. He and his mother were both poor and lived alone, the boy’s father left while he was still a baby. All of his life this boy had always done whatever his mother told him to do and never really learned to think for himself. At first, many parents might think it would be wonderful to have such an obedient child, but is it really? Because his mother always made decisions for him the boy was afraid to make his own decisions as he was afraid of doing something wrong, it was easier for him to wait and get instructions on what he needed to do without learning why he needed to do something in a certain way. Because the boy and his mother didn’t have much money, his mother needed him to work to help pay for their food and rent. Each day after school and on the weekends, the boy would go looking for jobs in his community. One Monday he found work in the local hardware store stacking bags of cement. It was hard work, but he was a reasonably strong boy for his age, and when he had finished the shop owner gave him a $10 bill for his efforts. As he was going home the $10 bill suddenly fell from his hand and the wind blew it away before he had the chance to catch it. When he got home and told his mother what had happened, she told him off. “You silly boy,” she said, “why can’t you think with your head you should have put the money in your pocket.”

“I promise I will do as you say next time, Mother,” he answered. On Tuesday he got a job in the village grocery shop. It was much easier work than stacking bags of cement, but the rewards were not the same, either. At the end of the day, the shopkeeper gave him some chocolates for his efforts. Remembering his promise to his mother, he put the chocolates in his pocket and made the long walk home. When he pulled the chocolates from his pocket to show his mother, all the chocolates had melted. Again his mother told him off. “You silly boy, why didn’t you think with your head! You should have carried the chocolates in a plastic bag so they wouldn’t melt.” “I’m sorry, Mother,” he apologized. “I’ll remember to do what you say next time.” On Wednesday he got a job in a pet store. He enjoyed working with the animals and, seeing this the pet store owner thanked him for his efforts by giving him a cat. Remembering what his mother had told him, the boy put the cat in a plastic bag and started to carry it home, but the cat quickly clawed its way out and ran away. When the boy came home he told his mother what had happened and she told him off again. “You silly boy, you should have tied a string around the cat’s neck and led it behind you. Think with your head for once.” Again the boy apologized saying. “I’ll remember to do what you tell me next time.” Well on Thursday the boy got a job working for the butcher. At the end of his work, the butcher gave him a leg of beef. The boy thought his mother would be very pleased with his efforts today and, doing what she’d told him the day before, he tied a bit of string around the leg and dragged it all the way home. As he did so, all the neighborhood dogs followed him, gnawing at the leg of fresh meat. By the time he got home, there was nothing but a bare bone left. His mother, who was running out of patience, told him off once again. “You silly boy, you should have carried it on your shoulder. Please think with your head for once.” Once more he apologized and promised to do as she told him next time. 

On Friday there weren’t any jobs in the town shop, so he wandered out into the country and helped a farmer working on a farm. At the end of the day, the man gave him an old donkey for his efforts. The boy was surprised to receive such a wealthy payment. If nothing else he and his mother could sell the donkey for a lot of money at the market and the boy would be able to not work for a couple of weeks. Remembering what his mother had said, he tried to lift the donkey onto his shoulder but found it was too big and heavy. When that did not work, he tried to remember her other directions. “Put it in your pocket,” he recalled her saying one day, but the donkey was too large to fit. “Carry it in a plastic bag,” she’d said on another day, but there was no way a donkey was going to fit in a bag any more than in his pocket. Even if it could’ve, he remembered that the cat had clawed its way out of the plastic bag and run away. He didn’t want to disappoint his mother that way again. Perhaps he could put it on a string and lead it home. Surely, the dogs would not eat a living donkey like they had the leg of beef. So the boy tied a string around the donkey’s neck and started walking towards his home. After a few steps, the donkey dug its heels into the ground, as stubborn as a mule, and refused to move. The boy did not know what to do. He had run out of instructions that his mother had given him. Nothing she had told him was going to work in the situation in which he now found himself. Thinking that the donkey is not going to move anywhere he left it where it was and went home to get his mother to help. When both the boy and the mother came back to where the boy had left the donkey, only tracks remained where the donkey dug its heels in. This time the boy’s mother had nothing to say to the boy.