A Young Boy and A Tree

It is very dry here in Alabama. Dry enough that we are having to water the trees and shrubs that we planted last fall. We weren't really planning on having this as a regular task for the summer!

When we were watering the trees one evening last week, we discovered that one of the pear trees had been broken in half. A few days prior to that it had been a nice, healthy tree. It will not live now.

One of the neighbors told us who broke the tree, and said she had yelled at him at the time. Jim went to see the family, and told them that they were responsible for a charge of $65 to replace the tree, which would be added to their rent. (The tree cost about $25 last fall, but another tree in their yard had been stripped of its branches and dug out of the ground so was also dead. Since a tree that is essentially a year older is worth more money, we came to that amount.)

Today the rent check arrived, but without the additional money. We refused the check, even though we know this family has not got much money. (Thirteen people live in the home.) Later, Jim went to their home, after we gave them a chance to really worry about this matter. They told him they do not have the money, but would be sure to have it for next month.

Jim had another idea. He suggested to the grandmother and the aunt that the young man who did the damage be required to pick up all the miscellaneous trash that seems to accumulate in the park on a daily basis - every day until school starts again. If this is not enforced, the family will have to come up with the cash.

The grandmother and aunt thought the idea was wonderful. Jim and I look on it as a way to teach a young man a lesson about other people's property that he would not learn any other way. Hopefully another result will be that people in this particular home stop dropping their litter, since we are fairly sure most is coming from this home. The only person who is not happy about the agreement is the perpetrator of the crime!

Win-win-win. (Being a parent and coming up with creative punishment that also teaches comes in handy sometimes, even after your own kids are grown!)

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