You just never know when life will hand you one of those unexpected occurrences that turns into a thought-provoking lesson. One of those events happened to us recently on a sunny October Saturday.
As we do at least twice every fall, my wife Patti, and our baby daughter Claire and I loaded up the stroller and diaper bag and headed for the State Fair. After a couple of the obligatory things we have to do at the Fair (eat our annual corny dogs and have our group picture made in the photo booth), we wandered around at a relaxed pace, slowly wending our way through the burnt orange- and crimson-clad hordes of revelers (Note to self: don’t go to the Fair on Texas-OU game day).
In the course of our meanderings, we were coming back around the Coliseum after a much-needed diaper change (for Claire, but thanks for asking), when I spotted a torn white envelope lying on the ground. A typed label on the front had only the name “Ronnie Burt,” and inside was $25 in cash.
After a moment of initial surprise, Patti and I looked at each other as the realization of our dilemma dawned on us. Do you remember the old cartoons where Bugs Bunny tried to decide what choice to make in a situation, and a cartoon devil perched on one shoulder and a cartoon angel on the other, each whispering encouragement in Bugs’ ears?
Well, that was us. You could almost see the wheels turning mentally as the debate began, first internally and then out loud.
“Wow — that’s a lot of money!”
“Yeah, and these coupons are expensive!”
“On the other hand, it does have a name on it.”
“True — and they must have a lost and found here somewhere.”
By this time, the forces of justice had won out and we had talked ourselves out of keeping the money. Somewhat ruefully, we walked up to one of the police officers sitting high up on his horse overseeing the rowdy football crowd. While Claire kept a wary eye on the big animal in front of her, I handed over the envelope, explaining how we had just found it and that we assumed it should be turned in somewhere safe.
As we went back to dodging the increasingly bellicose Sooner and Longhorn fans, we both realized how extremely important it will be, as little Claire grows up, for her to see us set an example of doing what’s right, even if it’s not as easy or not as much fun.
After all, she can already mimic our words and our facial expressions — why wouldn’t she later do the same with our behavior? Needless to say, that’s a pretty awesome responsibility when you think about it, but we believe that we owe it to her.
Otherwise, she might end up like some of the kids we saw, wearing T-shirts or carrying signs with, shall we say, rather derogatory if colorful references to either
Texas or OU. Even for a 47-year-old with a pretty wide-ranging vocabulary and a strong belief in freedom of artistic and political expression, some of the stuff you see is enough to make you think that maybe Bill Bennett is onto something.
In a few short years, when Claire can read and can understand more, Daddy may have to field some questions from her that he would rather not have to. In the meantime, all we can do is try to give her the best possible upbringing and hope most of it sticks.
Oh, and Ronnie — if you’re reading this, your $25 is in the lost and found at the State Fair.
