Once there was a rich-looking lady, waiting outside a grocery store. Then another lady comes by, who seems poor by her looks. She notices the rich lady standing outside and asks her, “is that you Martha? The rich woman looked confused and tried to remember her. “Oh, hey”. “ I haven’t seen you since you moved out of the neighborhood.”
“Yeah, we fell on some hard times but you know we managed. anyway, how’s your son?” the poor lady replied. The rich woman started to build a great image of her son. ” I’m so proud of him. He’s perfect. He graduated from Stanford with honors. He’s so successful. Where did your son go to college?”
The second lady answered, “Oh, well, my son didn’t go to college” “Oh, I’m Sorry, well after college my son started his own business. He is doing so well. Does your son have his own business? ”
The poor woman replies, “Oh, no, my son doesn’t have his own business, he works for a company.”The Rich mom answered, ” That’s too bad. Well, my son will be here any minute to pick me up and take me to his house in the hills. Where does your son live? ”
At the very moment, the poor mom’s son arrived. and said ”I’m sorry for coming late. Let me take your baggage.” She hands him the bags and asked him to wait for a while in the car until she says goodbye to her old friend.
The poor mom turns towards the rich mom and explained ” My son didn’t go to college because I got sick and he decided to stay back and take care of me. I begged him to go to school but he refused to leave my side.” ” And my son didn’t start his own business because he works for a non-profit company. To him, It’s not about how much money he makes but instead about the difference that he can make in other people’s lives. ” “He doesn’t have a house in the hills. He actually lives with me after my husband passed. he doesn’t want to live me alone so he stayed.” “He may not have all that your son has. but still, I’m proud of my son. ”
Just then the rich mom’s son arrived angrily. ” Mom, what’s taking so long” ” Oh, honey, I’m sorry I’m just…” he stopped her in mid-sentence and said, ” I don’t care If you’re sorry, you are wasting my time. I’m busy…let’s go. ”
The poor woman looked at the rich woman and said ” At least, my son knows how to help his mom. It was nice to meet you.”
Moral of the story: Rich mom Poor mom. Some people love to compare their life to others to make it seem their life is somehow better. If they went to a better school that doesn’t make them smarter. If they have more money that doesn’t make them better. If they have a fancy house that doesn’t make them happier. But what’s important to remember is having a great life is not based on what you have but it’s based on what you give.
That person who didn’t go to the best school may have learned more from his life experience. That person who didn’t have a bank balance may be helping a lot more people. And that person who doesn’t have a house on the hill may still have a happier home.