GRAFFITI

“Morning Bill!” I said in a happy voice to our school caretaker. Normally he would have replied in a positive way. Not today. “Someone’s graffitied the back concrete block fence. I’ll have to paint over it,” was his reply.

Just as Bill wandered off I noticed three people walking towards me. I recognised the parents but not the teenage boy. They stood together in front of me in an awkward silence. “Phillip*has something to say to you Steve.” In a quiet voice he said, “I’m sorry for tagging your fence.” 

Now, I’ve done some dumb things in my life, most of them during my teenage years, so I easily identified with him. I accepted his apology, but the problem wasn’t fully resolved. “I’m going to organise with Bill some paint and a brush for you. Every Friday afternoon, you can repaint a section. It will be after 4pm, so no students will be in the grounds. I have no wish to shame you.” We shook hands. 

So, every Friday afternoon for five weeks, he turned up on time and worked hard to ‘put things right’ We established a rapport and shared a few laughs together. When the job was finished, he thanked me for treating him fairly and apologised again. He had learnt a lesson. He had made amends and his self respect was intact. The golden rule works.
*Not his real name.