CHAPTER 6
THE STAIRWAY OF LIFE
Mrs Watson, a working mum, returned home early to find her thirteen year old son watching television when he should be at school!
'Hello! What's this, then?' she asked. 'Are you sick, or something?'
'No,' the boy answered.
'Then why are you home from school? What's going on?'
'Nothing, I just, well, sort of lost interest. It was only stupid History and boring Geography, nothing important.
Everybody wags those subjects every now and again.'
'Not in my family they don't,' his mother said in a tone demonstrating her annoyance. She sat down close to her son. 'It's time we had a little chat,' she said. 'Did I ever tell you about the Stairway of Life?'
'No. What is it? Where is it?'
'Listen and you may find out if we can get your brain into gear,' she said, ruffling his hair playfully. 'Now listen carefully. If you look on life as a great big staircase, then the first ten years at school are rather like the first ten steps on the Stairway of Life, see? Get the idea? Stumble on those early steps and you could end up being way behind others of your own age, for steps and steps, for years and years. What you are in life, what you make of yourself, very much depends on how you face up to those early steps. You must take them, carefully, diligently, one by one, in their proper order and no skipping! Always remember this: nobody ever did justice to himself by dodging his responsibilities, in school or out.'
'Oh, Mum. You make it sound like a criminal offence to cheat on school,' he said, laughingly.
'Listen son, cheating has more than one face. What you cheat on is one face. Who you cheat on is another, something quite different!'
'Eh? What do you mean, Mum?'
'Look son, my main concern is that you really know what you are doing. When you cheat on school, as you call it, the real truth of the matter is you are cheating on yourself!’
‘Oh Mum.’
‘Now you know that, you've got a chance to face up to it. If not, if you continue to make a fool of yourself, then at least I don't have to feel guilty, because I warned you. If you turn out to be a no-hoper, then that is your
choice, understand? Not mine or anybody else’s. That will be my only comfort in my old age, should you not amount to anything.'
'Oh, Mum. I, I don't want to be a no-hoper. I know I haven't always done well at school, but I'm doing much better now. I am, I really am! But if I make mistakes you know, don't do as well as I'd like, as perhaps I should, I can make up for it later can't I? I mean, that’s what people say.’
'It's not impossible, son. Look at your Grandad. He had a difficult, almost non-existent, education due to being shifted about a lot as a child during World War II. But when he was some thirty-odd years old, he went to night school to bring his education up to scratch. Eventually it led to a better job and a higher pension. But he knows he can never get back all those years of good education that he missed out on.’
‘No?’
‘No and he's the first to admit that the fruits of a good education are not always evident until you get older. You should talk to him about it sometime. He would enjoy helping you.’
'Oh, Mum! You're not holding Grandad up as some sort of a success story, are you? Just because he's always writing those silly little short stories and plays. He hasn't sold any, not one! That's not being a success. No way!'
The boy was plainly amused at the thought.
'Hang on, son. Tell me this, would you call me a successful gardener?'
'Oh, yeah! Everybody knows you're a great gardener, Mum.'
'Ah! But a successful, one?'
'Of course! Of course you're successful. Our garden's like, well, the best and everyone knows that. There isn't another garden around here as good as yours.'
'Thank you very much. But have I, have sold any of my plants?'
'Oh I don't know, Mum, haven’t you? I know you give stuff away.'
'No, no I haven't – I’ve never sold one!’
‘I didn’t know that.’
‘What about our Aunt Agnes, who paints those lovely landscapes that win so many art prizes. Would you say she was successful?'
'Yes, of course she is.'
'Well, I can tell you now, she's never, ever, sold a single picture.'
'Ok. Ok, so I guess you're saying I shouldn't judge Grandad's success as a writer, just by whether he's sold any of his stories and plays. Is that it?'
'Right. Very good, you’re getting there. His success can be judged by the odd prize or so that he's won, yes, but even more by the enjoyment he gives to those who love reading and performing his works and the determination with which he continues to produce more and more such enjoyable material.'
'Yes. Well, alright. But where's all this leading to, Mum? What do you want from me?'
'Oh, just a couple of things I'd like you to think about, that's all. First: don't cheat, especially on yourself. It's not worthy of you. Second: perseverance pays off. Some things might take time, a lot of time, but dogged determination and hard work really does pay dividends. Sometimes they can be cash dividends, as in a better job with higher pay and even in earlier retirement on a better pension. In a nutshell: don't ever knowingly short-change yourself. To do so is shameful and little short of stupid!’
'Gee, Mum, you know how to lay it on thick! But you've really given me a lot to think about here.'
'Good. Yes, well you've reached an age when you really should think about such things. But not now!’
'What? Why not?'
‘I mean not this very minute. No. Right now I'd like you to go to your room and play games on your computer, watch TV or whatever else you fancy. I want you to try your best to waste every single minute of what's left of today, because, if you've really listened to everything I've said, it will be the very last time you do that, right?'
'Oh! Yeah! Right, Mum.' He paused, as if deep in thought, then: 'Mum, can I have a piece of that cake to take with me?'
'You don't really deserve it but, yes. Yes. Now off you go and waste every minute, right?'
'Yeah great! See ya later, Mum,' he said, hurrying from the room.
Mrs Watson made herself a cup of tea and was just about to sit down and enjoy it when her husband Frank walked in.
'Hello, love,' she greeted him. 'But what's this then? You're home more than a bit early today.'
'Yes. Well, there was this big meeting of all staff called for two o'clock. Those meetings, they're such a waste of time! So I sneaked away, thinking I'll never be missed. If anybody asks, I was called out on a job.' He sat down, smiling and obviously very pleased with himself.
'Oh, yes? How often do you do this, this sneaking away from business? It’s not the first time, I take it?'
'Well every month or so. I usually go to a pub, near the office. But today, my love, I've come home to be with my darling wife! I thought we might have, you know, a pleasant afternoon together.'
'Oh? Oh, yes. Expect me to be pleased with that, do you?' Mrs Watson thought deeply for a moment, then said 'Frank...'
'Yes, my love?'
'Did I ever tell you about The Stairway of Life...?'