"Short Memory"

        A man walking down the street came upon a group of boys, all
of which were between the ages of 10-12. In the midst of the boys was
a dog. Concerned that they might be hurting the animal, he went over
and asked what they were doing.

        One of the boys said "This is just an old neighborhood stray.
We all want him, but only one of us can take him home. We decided to
settle it by seeing who could tell the biggest lie."

        The man, a sincere religious person, said "You boys should be
ashamed, you should not be having a contest telling LIES!" He then
lectured them on the sin of lying for about 10 minutes. He ended his
tirade by saying "When I was your age, I NEVER told a lie." There was
dead silence... and just when he thought he had done a good job of
convincing them not to lie any more, one of them said "All right, give
him the dog."

        Adults have a short memory. Sometimes it is hard for us to
admit that we were once young and not all that perfect. WE tried
experimenting with things we shoudn't have. We did things that
disappointed our parents. It doesn't justify us looking the other way
when our children do their thing, but it will help us to understand.

Norman Russell.