Accordian

An allowance of five dollars a week was considered very good for a boy of ten in the early nineteen sixties. In addition to his allowance, Marty's parents had purchased a new accordion for him. He performed frequently at school and at ladies' clubs in Brooklyn, New York where he lived. Marty was not a virtuoso, but he played the instrument well enough to make a name for himself in his neighborhood.

One day, while he was practicing, one of the chord buttons stuck in the down position. This meant that no matter what notes were played, the cord would not change. Marty took a screwdriver and tried to fix the instrument. He was able to take most of the moving parts off, but was not able to reassemble the machine and make it functional. Finally he explained what had happened to his mother. She became angry, and scolded him for several minutes. It seemed like hours to Marty. In the back of his mind he knew his mother was a kind person who loved him, but he hated it when she screamed at him.

She finally stopped yelling and told Marty, "I will take your broken accordion to the music store and get it fixed, and pay for it, but I am going to deduct the cost from your allowance. I will take four dollars a week out of your allowance until it is paid for. That will teach you not to play with your father's screwdrivers. And you will just have to get by on one dollar a week until the bill is paid back to me, so don't ask me for any more money!"

She took the accordion to the music store the next day. A week later she brought it home working fine. Marty's mother handed the accordion to him and said, "You owe me a hundred dollars. It will take about seven months at four dollars a week for you to pay me back. And you should be glad I don't charge you any interest!"

At the end of each week Marty was given one dollar instead of the usual five. Three months later, one of the chord buttons stuck in the down position again. This time, Marty carried the heavy music box to the Brooklyn music store, and spoke with the manager. "My mom paid you guys a hundred bucks to fix this accordion just a few weeks ago. That's a lot a money to pay. It should a stayed fixed longer than this. You should fix it for me for free this time."

The manager said, "Whadda ya mean a hundred bucks? She only gave me twenty five dollars. That's all I charged her."

The man took the accordion to the back of the store to fix the button. He was back with the repaired instrument within a few minutes. He did not charge Marty anything. On the way home, Marty became angry to think that his own mother had overcharged him for the repair bill. He started talking to himself as he walked home. He clenched his fists. He gnashed his teeth, and his face turned red. He stomped his feet with anger on the sidewalk. Finally he carried the heavy instrument into his house. When he confronted his mother with what he had learned, she stood tall, raised her eyebrows, and looked down at him. "So, I overcharged you. I taught you a very good lesson, too. A lesson you should never forget. With money, you shouldn't trust anybody. So pay attention!"