Would You Sell?
By carolbee
@carolbee (16230)
United States
December 17, 2007 12:50pm CST
Would you sell your son's video game at a tremendous profit? The story below is something to think about!
MONTREAL (AFP) - After catching his 15-year-old smoking pot, a father sold the hard-to-get "Guitar Hero III" video game he bought his son for 90 dollars for Christmas at an online auction, fetching 9,000 dollars.
The sale took place after the father spent two weeks searching for the video game for the Nintendo Wii gameboard.
"So I was so relieved in that I had finally got the Holy Grail of Christmas presents pretty much just in the nick of time. I couldn't wait to spread the jubilance to my son," the father wrote on the eBay website.
"Then, yesterday, I came home from work early and what do I find? My innocent little boy smoking pot in the back yard with two of his delinquent friends."
The man, a school teacher, who kept his identity private, said he sold the coveted video game to punish his son and discourage him from smoking dope.
The sale was a boon for the family's bank account, since the game the father purchased for 90 dollars (US) was finally sold to an Australian who plunked down 9,100 dollars for it.
The naughty son, however, will not go without a present on Christmas.
"I am still considering getting him a game for his Nintendo. Maybe something like Barbie as the Island Princess or Dancing with the Stars ... I know he will just love them," the father said, tongue-in-cheek.
7 people like this
16 responses
@cripfemme (7698)
• United States
18 Dec 07
I think this is appropriate as a punishment, but put at least half in the son's college fund.
2 people like this
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
17 Dec 07
I admire him for doing that. Too many parents would have brushed if off somehow or found a way to justify giving him the game anyway since they worked so hard to find it. It's really great that the dad got so much money for it although I wonder if that made the "lesson" backfire a little. Now the son can be like "well dad if I hadn't been smoking pot you wouldn't have gotten so much money for the game so smoking pot was a good thing for us"...
2 people like this
@carolbee (16230)
• United States
17 Dec 07
This is true. The son might also think that dad now has tons of money and will buy him a game anyway. So in the son's mind it might justify smoking pot again since there was a big profit on the sale of a gift initially bought for him. Thanks for responding.
2 people like this
@lightningMD (5931)
• United States
17 Dec 07
Kudos to that Dad. Darn right I would sell the game. He wouldn't get any presents this year. I'd take him to work in a soup kitchen this Christmas. Give him a tour of a rehab facility and not a posh for the stars one either.
2 people like this
@caroliewrites (205)
• United States
17 Dec 07
Hmmmm, not sure how I feel about this one because it does not seem that the consequence fit the action. How does selling the game help teach a lesson not to smoke pot? Or, not to associate with friends while they're smoking pot?
I might have said to the boy if I can't trust you, you have lost the privledge of my trust and therefore any "being alone" time; in other words, "where you go, I go, or you don't go". It's a difficult one isn't it?
2 people like this
@carolbee (16230)
• United States
17 Dec 07
I think the dad had the right idea about selling the game. The son shouldn't be rewarded for this sort of behavior. But, now the dad made a huge profit and am assuming the son will know. So the son can toss this back in the dad's face. Thanks for responding.
2 people like this
@Ravenladyj (22902)
• United States
18 Dec 07
""I am still considering getting him a game for his Nintendo. Maybe something like Barbie as the Island Princess or Dancing with the Stars ... I know he will just love them," the father said, tongue-in-cheek."
LOL ok that just made me laugh! As for selling it for a tremendous profit..I don't think that was his intent was it? I think he was just thinking of punishing the kid....And I dont blame him, I would have done the same damn thing..The fact that it sold for a cool $9000 is just a serious Xmas bonus!
1 person likes this
@Syphon (286)
• Germany
8 Jan 08
it was a good lesson for his son and surely he will think it twice before doing this but i dont know how this game guitar hero 3 can be $9100 worth when the father bought it for $90. ok, its hard to get but still, this amount of money is for a video game too high. i bet it was some rich guy who bought this game because he found the story funny or something like this...but its ok. his father, working as a teacher, must be an example for good behaving so he had to do something...and this is better than beating the as' of his son up.
1 person likes this
@ravinskye (8237)
• United States
17 Dec 07
Wow, i wish i could make a profit like that! I would have done exactly the same thing the father did. Hopefully his son learned a lesson.
2 people like this
@eyewitness (1575)
• Netherlands
18 Dec 07
Well it was a good punishment for the son but 9,000 dollars for a game.Guess he's lucky.
But maybe i would have sold the game too if i had a son or daughter smoking pot.
I think i would have gone back to the store to change it for some other present i think.
@youless (112481)
• Guangzhou, China
18 Dec 07
My son is too little, so he won't have any video games. However, I have some video games but I am not going to sell them. As they are one part of my memory in the past. I like to keep them. You know, it won't be worth a lot nowadays. So why I have to sell them?
1 person likes this
@LadyDulce (830)
• United States
17 Dec 07
I admire his stance, and I would likely do the same thing. Especially for that amount of money. You could always get him another one later if he decided to shape up. No child of mine will smoke ganja on my property without some consequences.
Blessed Be
2 people like this
@calicot (256)
• Philippines
18 Dec 07
I agree with those response here. Imho, the father did not intentionally sold the game and expected to get 9k, it just so happened that it reached that big amount. If the son would think that his smoking pot became beneficial to their situation then imho that child may end more wayward as he grow. But also, the father being a school teacher, may have also counsel his child in the actions he did and hopefully he wouldn't try it again.
1 person likes this
@Debs_place (10520)
• United States
18 Dec 07
It was not his son's game, it was to be a Christmas present. And these games are not entitlements. The Dad is to be admired for what he did, and the fact that he made such a profit is a great benefit to him.
I see nothing wrong with what he did.
1 person likes this
@AeroChickie (459)
• Canada
18 Dec 07
Wow! That's quite the profit! And the son probably learned his lesson pretty quickly afte losing his game. I think the father sent a strong and clear message. Good for him!
