The bank Manager Robber

I got a great shock when I asked a young nephew what he wanted to be when he grew up.

“I am going to be a Bank Manager Robber, and get very rich.” He made this shocking announcement with perfect sincerity and total confidence.

My response was very emphatic. “Why would you want to rob bank managers? You would not get rich and you would end up in jail. You could even get killed.”

“No, no. I am going to be a bank manager. They don’t go to jail, they get to rob their customers. They never get killed, just rich.”

That left me speechless. Later when I recovered my composure, I decided to try again to get to the bottom of his thinking. “Where did you learn about bank managers?”

“My Dad says all the bank managers are stealing from him. They take his money and hardly pay him anything. Then they lend it to another business and charge them lots. He calls that robbery, because they do nothing and their customers, who work hard, stay poor. They don’t get put in jail, they just get rich. I don’t want to work hard and be poor. I do want to be rich.”

A lesson for everyone. Be VERY careful about what you tell a child. They may interpret what you say differently from what you had in mind. Of course there is always the slight chance that their interpretation is the correct one.