The five-dollar bill⁴⁸

In Los Angeles I went into a shop owned by some oriental people to buy a shaver. A little girl happened to be there. While I was giving the money to the shopkeeper, she was looking at me; she was so curious. Then I dropped a dime. The little girl picked up the dime and put it into a tiny wallet she had. She was so happy to take the dime.

Her mother asked her to return the money to me. I smiled and said, “Let her take it.”

The mother said, “Yes. You are saying that just because it is only a dime! If it had been a dollar bill, would you have let her keep it?”

I said, “Whether it was a dollar bill or a five-dollar bill, I would let her keep it.” Then I dropped a five-dollar bill, and the little girl took it.

I was looking at her mother, but she didn’t ask the child to return it. When it was a dime, the mother asked her to return it. But when it was five dollars, the mother didn’t say anything.

Still I have not been able to decide who was greater: the fool in me or the rogue in the little girl’s mother!