RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30559, 30 September 1964, Page 36

RANDOM REMINDER

GOODY, TWO SHOES

Bread cast on the water does not always come back hamburger. Virtue is not always as rewarding as it should be. Here was this man in Fendalton with parallel bars in his garden, which sounds a little painful perhaps; but he had put them there for his children, and they had outgrown them. So he thought of a colleague in another suburb who had a family of considerable size and energy and decided to take them there. His wife suggested there would be no harm in also taking several sets of shoes and sandals, all in first-class order, also outgrown by the children. So this they

did. But when they arrived with the bars and the boots, there was noone at home. They therefore left them, with the shoes neatly stacked beside the back door step. At work next day, the benefactor asked his friend if he had found the parallel bars. Yes, he had, and they would help keep the children occupied and thanks very much. And the shoes? This second inquiry revealed several things. It shed light on the craven character of the recipient of the gifts, and whispered something about his neighbours. For when the man had come home and found the shoes on his doorstep, he thought immediately they had been left there

by neighbours’ children, and had sent some of his own (leaving enough for a quorum) to discover where they belonged. And they had all been claimed. But, the donor said, one of those pairs had not been worn at all, having been bought in error and perhaps they should be retrieved. The recipient looked grieved and worried.

“I can’t get them back,” he said. “They were claimed by one of the neighbours’ wives. I was out when you came, at the airport, with my children and five of hers. And when I came back, she seemed very upset that I hadn't taken her other three. No. I can’t go back there and ask for the shoes.”