How A Man

Danny Makes An Excellent Choice That Counts

Once upon a time in Danville, Va. lived a 9 year-old boy named Danny who lived a good life. Although he didn’t excel at anything in school or around his home, he did have it together in the brains-department. All of his senses were intact, particularly his 6th one known as, “common sense.” One reason he led such a good life was because his parents didn’t rule it. They let him make a lot of decisions that most kids his age were not able to choose. In that respect he was better off than most of the other students in his school who were his age. He appreciated that. He did get to pick the kind of kids he hung out with, but some- times that presented a problem because the cool kids were smoking and drinking. Yet that little voice in his head that's known as his conscience told him it was uncool

Since he went to a public school, he didn’t have a choice of the kind of kids he could be friends with. When he began hanging out with a big group that he thought was the coolest, they’d go to the 711 and sneak out with candy bars and other small things in their pockets, or if they bought anything, they’d walk around the store carrying the bag and slip some things into it. Danny knew that was wrong since his daddy was a Pentecostal pastor and made sure he was Bible knowledgeable. Yet when his friends started to stick things in their bags after paying for their purchase, he tried to witness to them, but they shunned him and called him a goodie 2-shoes. Still, he tried to do good, but the kids he called, “friends” were also cussing and smoking. They even bragged about their parents letting them just watch whatever they wanted when they parents left for Church. Still, Danny tried to tell the other kids that they were wrong in their actions, except they just called him a goody 2-shoes and said if he wanted to hang with them he’d have to start doing the same things they did. Since those were the coolest kids in the school, he gave in to their ways and did every bad thing that they did.

He didn’t have a choice but to do what they did if he wanted to be cool, and he definitely did want that with all of his heart. He wanted to be so cool he couldn't get any more if the people had put him in a freezer, we're talking some major mega-coolness for that young man.

Then one day they went into Walmart, to the toy section. That was where they spied a Space Invaders blasting machine. The box said it shot out plastic bullets in a puff of smoke and a flash of light would come on while making cool space fighter sounds. It seemed like something they each needed to have, so they paid for a Clue game to get a big bag and then they stuffed the weapons into their bags that they’d already paid for and began to walk out of the store, but when they saw Danny watching them, they said, “Come on, Danny! Put something else in your bag! Nobody will know! Do it if you want to be a member of the cool-kids group! It is really simple and it saves a whole lot of money! Do it! We know you'll love it, Danny!”

It appeared Danny didn’t have a choice if he wanted to be a member of the, “with-it” club, and so he did what they said and stuffed the game into his bag. The others were all laughing and giving him the, “Way to go!” sign. He knew it wasn’t right, but he wanted to be, “with it."

As they were walking out of the store, a security guy came running after them. “Hay! You kids! Now, you have to pay for those things! None of that stuff is free, believe it or not! You dig where I'm coming from?”

When the boys told him they couldn’t pay, then the security guy led them back into the store. Danny just stood there with his mouth wide open. When another security guy said, “Did you set him up, kid?” he said, “Oh, no! Please don’t include me with those law-brakers! I tried to tell them they had to pay but nobody listens to me!”

“Well, I have no proof,” said the security guy with a frown, “but I would be more more careful about who I hung out with in the future if I were you!” Danny nodded, but couldn’t say a word. He just walked out of the store.

After he told his parents about that scene they'd just had, he said, “I didn’t have a choice. If I said anything the gang would have never forgiven me. If I didn’t, they’d think what they were doing was alright and would just keep right on doing it over and over. What else could I do?”

His parents both smiled. “We’re really proud of you, son!” they said, “You knew what was wrong and didn’t do it, even when your friends were each doing bad things! You had a chance to hang with the wrong crowd, but you didn’t! It takes a really special kind of person who can resist that kind of pear-pressure! We've never been any more proud of you then we are right now, son! Way to go!”

Sometimes it’s really difficult to resist doing bad things, especially if all of your friends have been doing them. Just remember what Danny did, since he didn’t give in to that temptation, and yet came out of his battle in flying colors.

By, Cuz Roye, ….1-434-849-8268. Please call me some-time, or call me, "Cuz." Thank you very much, and may the Lord richly bless you for making my story be the best one.