Man Humiliates Retiree in Line for Baseball Tickets, Boy Teaches Him a Lesson – Subscriber Story

An older gentleman in line to buy a ticket for the baseball game discovers that he is short $0,70 and the man behind him starts to berate him. Then a little boy teaches the rude man a lesson and karma steps in.

We all get older, slower, and more forgetful, and that is what happened to Pete Farrow one Saturday afternoon. The 80-year-old was going to a baseball game, something he loved, and it was the first time he was going alone.

Once it had been a family outing, but his wife had passed away two years ago, and his son had moved to Alaska with his family, so Pete was all alone. That day the octogenarian decided he was tired of sitting home. He was going to the ball game

Pete stood in line and waited until it was his turn. The man who was selling the tickets said: "That will be $35, sir!"

Pete gasped. "$34? The last time I came to a ball game it was $19!"

The person behind him, a well-dressed man in his 30s said: "Listen, pops, do your reminiscing in your own time!"

Pete reached into his jacket pocket and took out his wallet with trembling hands. He started counting out the money, then he counted again. He shook his head and counted the money yet again.

What goes around comes around as the rude man should have remembered when he was unpleasant to Pete because of his age.

"COME ON!" shouted the man behind him, "Just pay for the ticket, you old geezer!"

Pete dug into his pockets and fished out a few coins. He laid them out on the counter and counted them out. Pete turned to the cashier. "I'm sorry, I only have $33. I thought it would be more than enough for the ticket and a hot dog..."

"Sorry, sir," the cashier said, "You're a dollar short."

"Wait!" Pete searched his pants pockets and came up with a few more coins. He placed them on the counter. Thirty cents.

"I'm sorry," said the cashier again, "You're still short 70 cents."

The man behind him said: "If you can't pay, get out of the way, you old coot!"

Pete ignored the man and said to the cashier, "Look, I have the money, but it's at home. Can I pay you the seventy cents tomorrow?"

"Sir," said the cashier patiently, "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. If you can't pay, please move on."

"But it's 70 cents," Pete said reasonably, "I promise you I'll pay. I was really looking forward to this game."

"Listen, you old windbag," cried the man behind him angrily, "The man told you to move on, so you move on!"

Pete was about to leave when a voice said: "Here are the 70 cents." A dark-haired boy placed the 70 cents on the counter. "Please," he said, "Give this gentleman his ticket."

Pete was stunned. He said to the boy: "Thank you, young man, God bless and reward you for your kindness."

The boy grinned. "That's OK! Just paying it forward!" then he turned to the rude man standing behind Pete. "You should think about doing the same, you're not going to be young forever, you know."

The rude man looked furious, he opened his mouth, but nothing came out. The cashier handed Pete his ticket. "Don't lose this," he said, "There's a draw at halftime, and there are lots of prizes!"

Pete thanked him and turned to the boy once more. "Son, you've made your parents proud today." The boy waved at him cheerfully, while the rude man paid for his ticket.

Pete walked into the stadium and breathed in the smell of freshly mown grass, popcorn, and hot dogs. He'd missed this. He sat and soon was caught up in the excitement of the game.

Quicker than he would have thought possible it was halftime and they were announcing the winning tickets for the draw, and projecting the images of the winners on the huge overhead screen.

To his astonishment, Pete saw the boy who'd given him the 70 cents. He was jumping up and down and waving his ticket in the air. He'd won a bicycle! Pete was delighted.

Then he realized that the boy had been rewarded for his kindness! If Pete hadn't bought his ticket, the winning ticket would have gone to the person in line behind the boy. Karma played its part!

What can we learn from this story?

1. Kindness is always rewarded. The boy gave Pete 70 cents and ended up winning a bicycle as a reward.

2. Treat others as you'd like to be treated. What goes around comes around as the rude man should have remembered when he was unpleasant to Pete because of his age.

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