My friend

 His son

 and His

Mercedes Benz

 

My friend of many years called me yesterday and told me the most interesting story I have heard in a while.

My friend Ed is a successful engineer who runs his own firm. 

He works very long hours. 

Not surprising for a go-getter such as Ed.  He is usually very exhausted by the time he gets home.

Ed bought a gorgeous black Mercedes Benz to commemorate his fifth anniversary as a business owner.

 

Life was good for Ed.

Ed has a son named Jerry.  Ed loves his son to a fault.   Jerry is a good boy by all accounts.

He takes school seriously. 

He does not party much.

Jerry is nineteen years old. 

Many young men his age who are fortunate enough to have all the good things in life available to them as is the case of Jerry, tend to miss no opportunity to party.

Jerry was different. 

He only partied occasionally.

One of the occasional parties Jerry loved to be present for was taking place this Friday.  

Jerry for some reason did not want to miss this party for anything in the world. 

Not only did he want to go to the party; he wanted to do so in grand style.  Jerry wanted to go in his father’s Mercedes Benz.

Jerry waited for Ed to come home so he could go to his special party in his father’s Mercedes Benz.

​

As usual, Ed got home late.  

As soon as he parked his car in the garage and walked into the house, Jerry met him at the door and asked to use the Mercedes Benz to attend his party.

Ed loves his Mercedes Benz greatly. 

He loves Jerry more. 

So he occasionally lets  the inexperienced Jerry drive his beloved Mercedes.

Today was different. 

Ed declined to let Jerry drive his Mercedes Benz to his party.  Ed did not explain to his son the reason why he could not drive his Mercedes today.

​

Jerry was stunned.

He does not remember the last time his dad said no to a request he made.

Ed was too exhausted from working over twelve hours. 

He had no interest in further discussing his refusal to grant his son access to his Mercedes Benz. 

Ed’s decision was final. 

He kept it short with his son. 

The only thing on Ed’s mind was sleep. 

 

Ed went to his room and was asleep in less than twenty minutes. 

Meanwhile, Jerry was thinking hard and deep how he was going to make it to his party in grand style. 

Whatever the reason was for Jerry, this was not the type of party he was going  to attend using Uber as his means of transport. 

No way!

Jerry knew his dad would be asleep in not time.   Jerry’s teenage instincts kicked into high gear. 

He waited for his dad to fall asleep. 

As soon as Ed went into slumber, Jerry quietly picked up the keys to his father’s Mercedes Benz and run into the garage. 

Less than five minutes later, Jerry was happily on his way to party with his friends in his father’s Mercedes.

When Jerry arrived at the party, it was packed.  Many people showed up.  Parking was tight.  

Jerry managed to find a tight spot to park his father’s car and hurriedly made his way to the party grounds to enjoy the night with his friends.

Shortly before midnight, Jerry made his way back to the Mercedes Benz as he prepared to go home.

As Jerry approached his father’s car from the passenger side, he was met with a gut wrenching spectacle.

Jerry could not believe what he was seeing. 

There was a huge scratch and dent on the passenger side of  his father’s Mercedes Benz. 

Someone must have scratched the side of the car due to the tight parking, Jerry reasoned.

“Oh no! my father will kill me when he sees this.” 

Jerry understood the consequences of his actions.

“There is no way I am driving home with this car looking like this.  Absolutely no way!  What am I going to do to fix this dent this late at night?”  Jerry thought to himself while almost in tears.

​

One of Jerry’s friends at the party was the son of an excellent mechanic. 

Jerry immediately found his friend and begged him to call his dad and have him fix the Mercedes Benz  before he drove it home.

Jerry begged his friend so hard till he obliged and called his dad.   Jerry’s friend explained the seriousness of the matter to his dad, so the old mechanic decided to help. 

He had Jerry drive the Mercedes to his workshop.

The mechanic worked on the car till 4 am. 

Jerry was ecstatic to see his dad’s car restored to its original state.  He thanked his friend’s dad profusely and then hurried home to park the Mercedes before his dad woke up.

Jerry got home and parked the car. 

He went and placed the car keys exactly where he picked them.  

He then proceeded quietly to his room to sleep. 

It was 5:30 am.

Two hours later,  Jerry was woken from his deep sleep by the sound of his father screaming his name.

Jerry got out of bed to find out why his dad was calling him so aggressively.  “It couldn’t possibly have to do with the car,” Jerry thought to himself. 

​

Jerry cross-checked to make sure everything was perfect before he parked the car.

Jerry walked confidently towards his father with no worries whatsoever.

When Jerry got within four feet of his father, Ed asked him, “Who fixed the scratch on the passenger side of my car?   I got in a minor accident on my way home yesterday from work.   I was too tired to tell you about it.  That was the reason I declined to give you my car to go to your party.   I wake up this morning and the  dent is completely fixed.  Do you know how the car got fixed overnight Jerry?”

​

“Oh no!”  

Was all Jerry could say.  

There was no getting out of this one. 

Jerry had to spill the beans to his father. 

Nothing but the truth was going to set poor Jerry free regarding this matter.

Hard lessons learned by the young man.

Be careful what you fix…It might just expose you in the long run.