Tomi loved money. He tried to get as much of it as possible, even if it meant tricking his little sister, Mai, into giving it to him. When their family went to the bank to trade all their change for bills, he got his sister to give him her $5 bill for his three quarters.
“I am giving you three coins for one bill,” he had told Mai. “You are getting a good deal.”
When he had gotten some cheap baseball cards for his birthday, Tomi got Mai to buy a couple of them for $10.
“These are going to be worth a lot one day,” he had said, even though he knew that those cards would not be worth much at all.
Mr. and Mrs. Sato, Tomi and Mai’s parents, learned about Tomi’s greediness and decided to teach him a lesson.
They knew that Tomi had been saving up for a certain $150 digital camera, so they told him that they would get him the camera if he gave them just the $75 he had saved.
Tomi couldn’t believe his ears. The deal seemed too good to be true. With a huge grin and a thank you, Tomi handed his parents all of his savings.
The next day, his parents handed him a beat-up box of the camera he wanted. Puzzled, he opened it, and upon seeing the used camera inside, his hopes fell. No wonder his parents had only wanted $75. This used camera was worth less than that.
“Is something wrong, Tomi?” Mr. Sato asked.
“I wanted a new camera, Dad. I thought you knew that. I trusted you.”
“Just like how your sister trusted you?” Mr. Sato looked earnestly at his son. “It doesn’t feel good when someone takes advantage of you, does it? Especially when that someone is family.”
All of a sudden, Tomi understood. He felt bad that he had made his sister feel this way and promised never to do it again.