In for a penny

Cash in hand

Sir, – Sometimes the frank wisdom of youngsters can show up us adults in a poor light. When my mother was about four years old, a rich aunt visited the house and on leaving she offered her a choice.

She could pick the small gold sovereign, which was worth a pound sterling in those days, or a shiny large penny. My mother chose the penny. When the aunt had left, my Grandmother asked my mother did she not know that the sovereign was far more valuable than the penny, to which she replied, “Mother, of course I do, but If I picked the sovereign, you would have kept it for ‘safe keeping’ and I would never get anything, but now I can get to keep the penny”. It was perfectly logical frank wisdom. I suspect that in similar circumstances, most families out there would do exactly the same. – Yours, etc,

BOBBY CARTY,

Templeogue,

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Dublin 6W.