The Great Bean Caper

“A righteous man who walks in his integrity, how blessed are his sons after him.” (Proverbs 20:7)

Growing up is a tough job, but now that I am raising children of my own, I believe that helping a child to grow up is much tougher. I thought that discipline was harder when I was on the receiving end, but I understand now that discipline is much more than thoughtless spanking or grounding…it takes wisdom to know what to do & when to do it…as in the case of “The Great Bean Caper”.

When I was a small tyke, about knee high to a grasshopper…whatever that means, my dad would take my brother & me to “Moore King Hardware” in our hometown of Oxford. My brother & I loved going to the hardware store. It was one of those old stores, that had the wood floors that creaked with ever step & it had a distinct smell, kind of a light musty smell, I guess a nostalgic smell, because to this day if that scent hits me, it takes me back to that store or my granddad’s shed, both kind of smelled the same. While dad shopped for…whatever he shopped for, my brother & I would play in the beans. There were five gallon buckets down the middle of the store filled with all different kinds of dried beans, you could scoop out the amount that you needed & they’d weigh them out. I always liked to just stick my hands down in a bucket & pick up a hand full & just let them filter through my fingers back into the bucket…why…I don’t know…I guess it’s because we didn’t have video games when I was that age. 

Now the story of “The Great Bean Caper” was a little before my time, but every time I saw those beans, I remembered the story & it has stuck with me throughout my life. The caper took place before I was born or just around that time. My older brother had accompanied my dad to this hardware store where he of course stopped to play with the beans while my dad picked up the items he needed. After checking out, my dad & brother returned home, but not long after arriving & walking inside, my brother pulled out a hand full of dried beans from his coat pocket, beans that my dad knew they had not paid for. It all came down to a game my brother had learned at school or somewhere called…oddly enough…“beans”. Though my brother was young & had no idea that he had just pulled off the crime of the century for that small hardware store, my dad did something that would remain in his mind & mine forever. My dad took the beans & little Chuck "sticky fingers” Mason back to “Moore King”, where my brother would have to go in, give back the “hot” beans & apologize for the class 4 misdemeanor that he had committed…all of which he did with my dad standing right beside him. For my brother I’m sure it was embarrassing, but a very good lesson, that would shape & mold not only him, but myself as well, forever.

To this day I have never seen my dad take advantage of another person. I’ve seen him taken advantage of, not foolishly like he had no idea it was happening, but willingly, in order to keep the peace. 

I may have been rebellious & at times seemed as though I didn’t soak up anything my dad said, truth be known, what I didn’t soak up from his words of wisdom, I was overfilled with as I viewed & still do view his actions, & have been blessed for it.

“The best way to teach character is to have it around the house”

(unknown)

Vern